4.7 Article

Chicory stimulates companion legume species to fix more biological nitrogen

Journal

PLANT AND SOIL
Volume -, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11104-023-06370-3

Keywords

Forage production; Lucerne; Perennial ryegrass; Subterranean clover; Symbiotic nitrogen fixation

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Chicory extracts more mineral nitrogen from the soil compared to perennial ryegrass. Mixing chicory with legumes such as lucerne or subterranean clover can increase nitrogen fixation efficiency.
Purpose Chicory (Cichorium intybus) scavenges more soil mineral nitrogen (N) than perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). A glasshouse study was conducted to test whether (a) the percentage of N derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa) by a companion legume differs when grown with chicory or perennial ryegrass, and (b) there is an optimal ratio of non-legume:legume in a pasture mix that maximises biological N-2 fixation.Methods Chicory or perennial ryegrass was grown as a monoculture, or in a mixture with either lucerne (alfalfa, Medicago sativa) or subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) at 25:75, 50:50 or 75:25 ratio (non-legume:legume based on plant numbers). Monocultures of lucerne and subterranean clover were included as controls.Results All treatments containing chicory extracted more mineral N from the soil than corresponding treatments containing perennial ryegrass. Subterranean clover %Ndfa was greater than lucerne. Combining lucerne with chicory in a 50:50 or 75:25 mixture increased the efficiency of N-2 fixation by > 20%. Growing chicory with subterranean clover in mixtures of 50:50 or 75:25 resulted in the highest %Ndfa for growth among all treatments (P < 0.05). However, the amounts of N-2 fixed by subterranean clover in the perennial ryegrass-subterranean clover mixture were similar to those in the chicory-subterranean clover mixture since dry matter accumulation from subterranean clover was higher when grown with perennial ryegrass.Conclusion The %Ndfa of legumes was greater when grown with chicory than perennial ryegrass. Chicory mixed with subterranean clover or lucerne in 50:50 ratios provided the optimum balance between legume dry matter yield and N-2 fixation.

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