N2Africa has a strong focus on agronomic management to improve crop yields. We start from the premise that successful nitrogen fixation and yield of legumes in the field depends on the interaction:
(GL×GR)×E×M
(Legume genotype × Rhizobium strain) × Environment × Management
where environment encompasses climate (temperature, rainfall, day length etc to encompass length of growing season) and soils (acidity, aluminum toxicity, limiting nutrients etc). Management includes aspects of agronomic management (use of inoculants, mineral fertilizers, sowing dates, plant density, weeding).
Thus establishment of effective BNF depends on optimizing all of these components together. In this Podcaster we report on recent agronomy research that has been conducted to date. We show the importance of the M factor in achieving the potential of the legume/rhizobium symbiosis for nitrogen fixation and yield.
We have been receiving strong feedback suggesting that readers of the Podcaster are pleased with the regular news. At present we are mailing directly to >500 people across many continents and countries – if you have friends who would like to receive the Podcaster please send their email addresses to N2Africa.office@wur.nl
Ken Giller