Common bean production in Tanzania is constrained by soil phosphorus which is mainly due to inherently low phosphorus content, soil erosion, and fixation by oxides in acidic soils. A study was conducted to evaluate bean genotypes in a screen house pot experiment for their ability to thrive and produce on low phosphorus soil. Assessment of shoot biomass, root biomass, shoot P concentration, P uptake, and yield components was done using three phosphorus levels and seven bean genotypes. Phosphorus levels, namely, control (P0), medium P (40？mg？P/kg), and high P (160？mg？P/kg), were the main plot factor, while the genotypes were the subplot in split plot structure, arranged in a completely randomized design. Shoot and root biomass as well as P uptake increased significantly with increase in phosphorus levels. There was varying response of genotypes in performance in terms of shoot biomass P uptake, and yield in a treatment without P addition. Genotypes MILENIO, BAT477, and A785 were outstanding in terms of root and shoot biomass, P uptake and grain yield under low P treatment. Therefore, those genotypes can be recommended for use in low-phosphorus environment as well as breeding materials. 1. Introduction Bean production in Tanzania is undertaken by small-scale farmers for household consumption, surplus of which is traded for cash. Bean yields are low due to diseases and low soil fertility, particularly phosphorus deficiency [1, 2]. The declining soil phosphorus in Tanzania is due to continued nutrient mining without replenishment. It is estimated that beans remove 12.5？kg？P/ha which is higher than additions in terms of phosphorus fertilisation by resource-poor farmers [3]. It has been reported that soils in major bean growing areas of Tanzania have very low concentrations of extractable phosphorus ranging from 1.6 to 3.1？mg？P/kg soil [4]. The use of fertilizer is very low as it is at an average rate of 1.9？kg？P/ha of cultivated land [5] due to high costs of fertilizers and transport [6], unpredictable rainfall, inadequate supply, untimely availability of fertilizer, and lack of credit [7]. However, phosphorus deficiency can be overcome by corrective soil fertility amendment strategies such as application of phosphatic fertilizers and liming of acidic soils. It is difficult for farmers in developing countries, Tanzania in particular, to undertake soil fertility amendments. Bean production is constrained by low phosphorus; the need for bean varieties are capable of acquiring phosphorus from limiting soil environments is of obvious importance. The ability of
References
[1]
R. J. Hillocks, C. S. Madata, R. Chirwa, E. M. Minja, and S. Msolla, “Phaseolus bean improvement in Tanzania, 1959-2005,” Euphytica, vol. 150, no. 1-2, pp. 215–231, 2006.
[2]
M. F. Atemkeng, R. Remans, J. Michiels, A. Tagne, and E. L. M. Ngonkeu, “Inoculation with Rhizobium etli enhances organic acid exudation in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) subjected to phosphorus deficiency,” African Journal of Agricultural Research, vol. 6, no. 10, pp. 2235–2242, 2011.
[3]
F. B. S. Kaihura, M. Stocking, and E. Kahembe, “Soil management and agrodiversity: a case study from Arumeru, Arusha, Tanzania,” in Proceedings of the Symposium on Managing Biodiversity in Agricultural Systems, Montreal, Canada, November 2001.
[4]
F. Amijee and K. E. Giller, “Environmental constraints to nodulation and nitrogen fixation of Phaseolus vulgaris L. in Tanzania. A survey of soil fertility, root nodulation and multi-locational responses to Rhizobium inoculation,” African Crop Science Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 159–169, 1998.
[5]
International Centre for development-oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA), “Sukumaland case study part IX. Fertiliser economics,” 2002.
[6]
R. E. Hudgens, “Sustaining soil fertility in Africa: the potential for legume green manures,” in Proceedings of the 15th Conference of the Soil Science Society of East Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, August 1996.
[7]
M. B. Wallace and W. I. Knausenberger, Inorganic Fertilizer Use in Africa: Environmental and Economic Dimensions. Environmental and Natural Resources Policy and Training (EPAT) Project Winrock International Environmental Alliance, 1997.
[8]
X. Yan, J. P. Lynch, and S. E. Beebe, “Genetic variation for phosphorus efficiency of common bean in contrasting soil types: I. Vegetative response,” Crop Science, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 1086–1093, 1995.
[9]
A. P. Araújo, M. G. Teixeira, and D. L. de Almeida, “Growth and yield of common bean cultivars at two soil phosphorus levels under biological nitrogen fixation,” Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 809–817, 2000.
[10]
J. P. Lynch, “Root architecture and plant productivity,” Plant Physiology, vol. 109, no. 1, pp. 7–13, 1995.
[11]
M. D. Ho, K. M. Brown, and J. P. Lynch, “Water and phosphorus uptake in common bean as a function of root architecture,” in Proceedings of the 11th Australian Society of Agronomy Conference, Geelong, Australia, February 2003.
[12]
C. R. Miller, I. Ochoa, K. L. Nielsen, D. Beck, and J. P. Lynch, “Genetic variation for adventitious rooting in response to low phosphorus availability: potential utility for phosphorus acquisition from stratified soils,” Functional Plant Biology, vol. 30, no. 9, pp. 973–985, 2003.
[13]
D. P. Schachtman, R. J. Reid, and S. M. Ayling, “Phosphorus uptake by plants: from soil to cell,” Plant Physiology, vol. 116, no. 2, pp. 447–453, 1998.
[14]
S. S. Miller, J. Liu, D. L. Allan, C. J. Menzhuber, M. Fedorova, and C. P. Vance, “Molecular control of acid phosphatase secretion into the rhizosphere of proteoid roots from phosphorus-stressed white lupin,” Plant Physiology, vol. 127, no. 2, pp. 594–606, 2001.
[15]
C. Szilas, The Tanzanian minjingu phosphate rock- possibilities and limitations for direct application [Ph.D. thesis], Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2002.
[16]
K. H. Tan, Soil Sampling, Preparation and Analysis, Marcel Dekker, New York, NY, USA, 1995.
[17]
CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical), “Standard system for the evaluation of bean germplasm,” CIAT, Cali, Colombia, 1987.
[18]
J. Murphy and J. P. Riley, “A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters,” Analytica Chimica Acta, vol. 27, pp. 31–36, 1962.
[19]
J. R. Landon, “Booker Tropical Soil Manual. A handbook of soil survey and agricultural land evaluation in the tropics and sub-tropics,” 1991, Longman Scientific and Technical, Booker Tate Ltd. Pp 474.
[20]
Soil Survey Staff, Keys to Soil Taxonomy, United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, 11th edition, 2010.
[21]
C. S. Wortmann, R. Kirkby, C. Eledu, and D. Allen, Atlas of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Production in Africa, CIAT, Cali, Colombia, 1998.
[22]
L. F. C. Leite, E. S. Mendon？a, and P. L. O. A. Machado, “Influence of organic and mineral fertilisation on organic matter fractions of a Brazilian Acrisol under maize/common bean intercrop,” Soil Research, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 25–32, 2007.
[23]
A .O. O. Masandu and O. O. Joshua, “Response of common bean to Rhizobium inoculation and fertilizers,” The Journal of Food and Technology in Africa, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 121–125, 2001.
[24]
J. R. Okalebo, P. L. Woomer, C. O. Othieno, et al., “The potential influence of under-utilized phosphate rock for soil fertility replenishment in Africa: case studies in Western Kenya,” in Proceedings of the African Crop Science Conference, vol. 8, pp. 1589–1598, 2007.
[25]
K. G. Raghothama, “Phosphate acquisition,” Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology, vol. 50, pp. 665–693, 1999.
[26]
H. Hinsinger, “Bioavailability of soil inorganic P in the rhizosphere as affected by root-induced chemical changes: a review,” Plant and Soil, vol. 237, no. 2, pp. 173–195, 2001.
[27]
H. Poorter and O. Nagel, “The role of biomass allocation in the growth response of plants to different levels of light, CO2, nutrients and water: a quantitative review,” Australian Journal of Plant Physiology, vol. 27, pp. 47–82, 2000.
[28]
K. L. Nielsen, A. Eshel, and J. P. Lynch, “The effect of phosphorus availability on the carbon economy of contrasting common bean (phaseolus vulgaris l.) genotypes,” Journal of Experimental Botany, vol. 52, no. 355, pp. 329–339, 2001.
[29]
T. Boutraa, “Growth and carbon partitioning of two genotypes of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) grown with low phosphorus availability,” EurAsia Journal of BioScience, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 17–24, 2009.
[30]
J. P. Lynch, “Root phenes for enhanced soil exploration and phosphorus acquisition: tools for future crops,” Plant Physiology, vol. 156, no. 3, pp. 1041–1049, 2011.
[31]
M. Thung, “Bean agronomy in monoculture,” in Common Beans: Research for Crop Improvement, A. van Schoonhoven and O. Voysest, Eds., pp. 737–834, Cali, Colombia, 1991.
[32]
C. T. T. Machado and A. M. C. Furlani, “Kinetics of phosphorus uptake and root morphology of local and improved varieties of maize,” Scientia Agricola, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 69–76, 2004.
[33]
G. R. Valizadeh, Z. Rengel, and A. W. Rate, “Wheat genotypes differ in growth and phosphorus uptake when supplied with different sources and rates of phosphorus banded or mixed in soil in pots,” Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, vol. 42, no. 8, pp. 1103–1111, 2002.
[34]
H. Marschner, Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants, Academic Press, London, UK, 2nd edition, 1997.
[35]
M. D. A. Bolland, K. H. M. Siddique, and R. F. Brennan, “Grain yield responses of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) to applications of fertiliser phosphorus and zinc,” Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 849–857, 1999.
[36]
M. Tariq, A. Khalid, and M. Umar, “The effect of phosphorus and potassium application on the growth and yields of mungbean (Vigna radiata L),” Online Journal of Biological Sciences, vol. 1, no. 6, pp. 427–428, 2001.
[37]
L. C. Melo, J. B. dos Santos, and D. F. Ferreira, “Mapping and stability of QTLs for seed weight in common beans under different environments,” Breeding and Applied Biotechnology, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 227–236, 2002.
[38]
L. Szilagyi, “Influence of drought on seed yield components in common bean,” Bulgarian Journal of Plant Physiology, pp. 320–330, 2003.
[39]
G. Hernández, M. Ramírez, O. Valdés-López et al., “Phosphorus stress in common bean: root transcript and metabolic responses,” Plant Physiology, vol. 144, no. 2, pp. 752–767, 2007.
