Legume Research

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Research Article

Legume Research, volume 44 issue 12 (december 2021) : 1437-1442

Effect of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilizers on Growth, Yield, Nodulation and Nutritional Composition of Bambara Groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.]

Mahmudul Hasan1, Md. Kamal Uddin1,*, Mahmud Tengku Muda Mohamed2, Ali Tan Kee Zuan1, Mst. Motmainna2, Ahmad Numery Ashfaqul Haque1
1Department of Land Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
2Department of Crop Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

  • Submitted18-02-2021|

  • Accepted11-09-2021|

  • First Online 11-10-2021|

  • doi 10.18805/LR-617

Cite article:- Hasan Mahmudul, Uddin Kamal Md., Mohamed Muda Tengku Mahmud, Zuan Kee Tan Ali, Motmainna Mst., Haque Ashfaqul Numery Ahmad (2021). Effect of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilizers on Growth, Yield, Nodulation and Nutritional Composition of Bambara Groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.] . Legume Research. 44(12): 1437-1442. doi: 10.18805/LR-617.

ABSTRACT

Background: Bambara groundnut is an edible legume that is highly nutritious. This study was carried out to find the effect of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers on the growth, yield, nodulation, the proximate and nutritional composition of bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.]. 

Methods: During the period of 2018, a glasshouse experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) at Ladang 15, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Different rates of N and P fertilizer were used. Kjeldahl method and HPLC, respectively, determined the protein and amino acid content in seed. 

Result: N and P fertilizer were found to play a dominating role in increasing the vegetative growth and yield of the plant. Plant height (20.65a), pod number (45.75a) and harvest index (41.61a) increased significantly with the application of N30 + P60 kg ha-1. Application of N30P60 kg ha-1 significantly influenced nodulation and nitrogen yield. Protein, fibre, Mg and amino acid content increased with N30P60 kg ha-1. The application of N30P60 mg kg-1 has increased the growth, yield, nodulation, proximate and nutritional composition of bambara groundnut.

INTRODUCTION

Bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.] is cultivated in the west and central Africa, but now its cultivation is spread worldwide. It can be grown in all kinds of soil, especially in marginal soil. It played a significant role in the diet of West African people and positioned it as the third most significant legume crop, following groundnut and cowpea (Lo et al., 2019). Bambara groundnut is measured as a balanced diet because of the high percentage of carbohydrates (65%), protein (18%) and fat (6.5%) contain in the seed (Mazahib et al., 2013).
               
Nitrogen plays a beneficial role in legume growth and promotes extensive root development, thereby ensuring a good yield. Although urea is the most suitable source of N, the plant does not use more than 50% (Hasan et al., 2018) and through volatilization, denitrification and leaching, the remaining N is lost. Nitrogen plays a vital role in cell division and the formation of active photosynthetic pigments. Vegetative growth of the plant tended to enlarge with an increase in different levels of N fertilizer (Uddin et al., 2017). The application of N fertilizer enhanced the agronomic parameters of bambara groundnut and showed a remarkable impact on plant growth. When N is released into the soil, it helps in the root development of bambara groundnut while also assisting in N2 fixation (Hasan et al., 2021).
               
Following N, P is considered a crucial mineral fertilizer for the flourishing production of the crop. Physiological parameters such as photosynthesis, transpiration rate, chlorophyll content and root growth etc., are considered as critical factors for plant growth and development (Motmainna et al., 2021). Insufficient phosphorus restrictions directly or indirectly manipulate them. In the soil, P is remaining as a critical constitute and produced an insufficiently resolved phosphate mineral (Hasan et al., 2018, Haque et al., 2020). The physiology of the plant is affected to a great extent with the application of P fertilizer and it also helps to get better yield (Hasan et al., 2019, Uddin et al., 2020).  Plants’ ability to produce seeds is enhanced by phosphorus to the soil, which helps to accelerate meristem tip activity, root formation and early growth of the plant. Phosphorus fertilizer is required for nitrogen fixation as well as nutrient and water intake from the soil (Hasan et al., 2019). This is accomplished through increased root number  and the formation of lateral and fibrous roots. Phosphorus fertilizer also promotes the development of lateral, fibrous and healthy roots.
               
Although some reports on the relationship between fertilizers and growth, yield and seed quality of bambara groundnut are available, relatively little attention has been paid to N and P fertilizer application in Malaysia. Thus, the main objective of the present study was to find out the effect of N and P fertilizer on the growth, yield, nodulation and nutritional composition of bambara groundnut.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experimental site, design and treatments
 
A glasshouse experiment was conducted in 2018 at the Faculty of Agriculture in Ladang 15, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. The temperature and humidity were 31.27oC and 84%, respectively. The volume of the pot was 70.65 m3 and one seed was sowed in each pot. Sandy clay loam soil was used to fill the pot and the amount was 10 kg pot-1. The amount of calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium was 1.60, 2.30, 0.36 and 4.55, 140.6 and 147.3 cmolc kg-1, respectively, in the soil with pH 6.4. Sixteen treatments of this experiment were the combination of different rates of N and P (T1: N0P0, T2: N0P20, T3: N0P40, T4: N0P60, T5: N10P0, T6: N10P20, T7: N10P40, T8: N10P60, T9: N20P0, T10: N20P20, T11: N20P40, T12: N20P60, T13: N30P0, T14: N30P20, T15: N30P40 and T16: N30P60 kg ha-1). T1 (N0P0 kg ha-1) was considered as the experimental control. Nitrogen and P were used in the form of urea and triple superphosphate (TSP), respectively.  The fertilizer treatments were mixed with the soil before sowing the seeds. The experiment was performed randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications.
 
Measurement of growth and yield parameters
 
The observations on the growth and yield-related data were recorded manually from each pot of each replication separately. The harvest index was calculated as described by Hasan et al., (2021). Leaf area was measured by leaf area meter (LI-3100C) (Motmainna et al., 2021).
 
Nodulation and nitrogen yield estimation
 
Bambara groundnut plants were dug carefully around the plants to a depth of 50 cm without disturbing the roots for nodule number, nodule weight, root and shoot dry weight (Hasan et al., 2021). Nitrogen content in the root, shoot and pods with seed were determined by dry combustion technique using a LECO CR-412 carbon analyzer (LECO, Corporation, St. joseph, USA) (Hasan et al., 2021).
 
Determination of proximate composition in seed
 
The most standard method for determining protein is the Kjeldahl method (Kjeldahl, 1883). Fiber determination was carried out by utilizing Fibertec System (Fenton et al., 1979). The moisture content of the seed was determined following the method developed by Willits, 1951. The mineral composition was measured in the dry ash method (Cotteine, 1980).

Amino acids content in seed
 
Concentrations of amino acids in grains were measured by HPLC described by (Strydom and Cohen, 1994) following pre-column derivatization with the 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimdly carbonate (Waters, USA).
 
Statistical analysis
 
All data were subjected to statistical analysis of variance (Two ways ANOVA) using SAS version 9.4 at the 5% significance level and the least significant difference was employed for mean separation.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Impact of N and P on growth, yield and nodulation of Bambara groundnut
 
The plant height, leaf area, nodule number, nodule weight, nitrogen yield, pod number and harvest index were investigated at harvesting time were significantly increased with different levels of applied N and P fertilizer (Table 1 and Fig 1). The mean highest plant height of 20.65 cm was recorded at T16 (N30P60 kg ha-1) and gave 5.46% more advanced than T1 (control). The result also revealed that the growth of plants increased with the increasing N and P levels. Hasan et al., (2019) also reported a similar effect where plant height decreased with decreasing N and P fertilizer. Highest increase in pod number and pod dry weight at N30P60 kg ha-1 was reported by Hasan et al., (2021). The number and weight of nodules were increased with N30P60 kg ha-1 compared to other N and P fertilizer combinations. The highest nodule number of 38.00 was recorded at T16 (N30P60 kg ha-1) followed by 34.75 at T15 (N30P40 kg ha-1) and 33.75 at T8 (N10P60 kg ha-1). These findings are similar to other studies (Egbe and Egbo, 2011). The most significant increase in the pod number was 74.28% at T16 (N30P60 kg ha-1), followed by 65.71% at T12 (N20P60 kg ha-1) and 53.33% at T4 (N0P40 kg ha-1) compared to T1 control (control). There exists an increasing trend with increasing levels of N and P fertilizer. The finding of this experiment is similar to Hossain et al., (2007), where N (0, 20, 40, 60 kg ha-1 and P (0, 30, 60, 90 kg ha-1) doses were applied and found the better growth and yield at N60P60 kg ha-1.
 

Table 1: Effect of N and P fertilizer on nodule plant-1, nodule weight (g), leaf N (%), shoot N (%), root N (%) and seed N (%) with seed in Bambara groundnut.


 

Fig 1: Effect of N and P fertilizer on nodule number, nodule weight, pod number and harvest index of Bambara groundnut.


 
Impact of N and P on mineral and proximate composition of seed
 
The results showed that calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and manganese (Mn) content in bambara groundnut differed significantly due to the different levels of N and P application but have no significant difference was recorded on protein, fiber, ash, moisture, potassium (K), copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and sodium (Na) (Table 2). The highest value of Ca was illustrated at 660.00 mg kg-1 at T13 (N30P0 kg ha-1) and the lowest was 592.75 mg kg-1 at T1 (control) (Table 2). Manganese content increased 70.45% at T16 (N30P60 kg ha-1), followed by 61.36% at T12 (N20P40 kg ha-1) and 56.06% at T4 (N0P40 kg ha-1). The result mentioned that the mineral composition increased with increasing at a different level of N and P fertilizer but decreased where no fertilizer was applied. A similar finding was reported by Hasan et al., (2019) that the mineral composition was increased at N30P60 kg ha-1 compare to other fertilizer treatments. The amount of protein contains in seed at different levels of N and P was varied among 191.30 to 203.00 mg kg-1. On the other hand, in this study bambara groundnut seeds contain 51.50 mg kg-1 fibre, which was the same as the result obtained from Abdulsalami and Sheriff (2010) but higher than that of the result by Mazahib et al., (2013). Nitrogen and P contribute significantly to the synthesis of fibre and protein and the higher N and P available to the crop, the higher protein can be synthesized.
 

Table 2: Effect of N and P fertilizer on proximate and mineral composition (mg kg-1) of Bambara groundnut.


 
Impact of N and P on amino acid content of seed
 
Application of N and P fertilizer at different levels had no significant impact on all amino acid content on the seed of bambara groundnut plant (Table 3). The seeds contain sufficient quantities of lysine, cysteine and methionine, such kind of essential amino acids. Amino acids content in seeds were decreased at T16 (N30P60 kg ha-1) such as aspartic acid (2.32%), arginine (6.80%), cystine (13.64%), glumatic acid (2.03%) and histidine (6.23%) in comparison to T1 (control). It is seen that aspartic acid, glumatic acid and leucine are the most abundant amino acids in all the samples. Olaleye et al., (2013) reported the same result. However, the amino acids contained in the seed were lower than the result reported by Mazahib et al., (2013).
 

Table 3: Effect of N and P fertilizer on amino acid content (mg kg-1) of Bambara groundnut.

  
 
Bambara groundnut is an edible legume that serves as one of the primary sources of income for smallholder farmers. Our findings indicated that N and P fertilizer significantly influenced the growth, yield, nitrogen content and nutritional composition of bambara groundnut. This is a clear indication that N30P60 kg ha-1 increases the growth, yield, nitrogen content and nutritional composition of bambara groundnut rather than other fertilizers.

CONCLUSION

Bambara groundnut is an edible legume that serves as one of the primary sources of income for smallholder farmers. It has numerous agronomic and nutritional attributes, which make it an excellent crop to develop. The results indicate that the inorganic N and P applications strongly influence the growth, yield, nitrogen content and seed quality of bambara groundnut. This is a clear indication that 30 kg ha-1 nitrogen and 60 kg ha-1 phosphorus fertilizer increase the growth, yield, nitrogen content and nutritional composition of bambara groundnut. The application of N30 + P60 kg ha-1 could be recommended for getting maximum growth, yield, nodulation and nutritional composition of bambara groundnut.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors are grateful to National Agricultural Technology Programme (NATP): Phase-II Project, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (vote number 6282514) and (GP-IPM/2016/9494700) for funding this research project. We also sincerely acknowledge the Universiti Putra Malaysia for providing all land and lab facilities.

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