Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Varying soil nutrition in grassland and savanna ecosystems affect plant-microbe symbiosis, nitrogen nutrition and growth of Pisum sativum L

Auteur : Zungu, Ntuthuko Sifiso.

Université de soutenance : University of KwaZulu-Natal

Grade : Master of Science in the discipline Biological Sciences 2019

Résumé partiel
Sustainable agriculture is associated with soil fertility which promotes quality vegetation and higher yield potential for sustenance as either food or feed. In many developing countries with low gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, households mostly rely on agricultural produce and livestock to meet their dietary requirements. However, most of the regions are characterized by low fertility soils which negatively affect agricultural yield and overall quality of produce. The grassland and savanna ecosystems in which the majority of the population in these countries reside, are nutrient deficient and acidic. This imposes a burden on both small and large-scale farmers since they have to rely on commercial fertilizers to mitigate the effects. Furthermore, the use of these fertilizers can negatively affect the immediate environment through leaching and runoff. Therefore, there is a need for eco-friendly, low-input high-yield farming systems that are also cost effective. This has increased research aimed at the use of biofertilizers such as leguminous plants to remediate soil nutrition in grassland and savanna ecosystems. Since biofertilizers are naturally occurring, their use has minimal threat to the environment and ecosystems. Legumes and their symbionts, whether endophytic and/or associative, might be a suitable sustainable farming system to mitigate soil quality degradation. More so, legumes are a rich source of proteins and minerals that improves the quality of feed in pastures, hence improving the quality of livestock. This project was aimed at investigating the functional adaptations of a winter legume, Pisum sativum L., in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) grassland and savanna nutrient deficient ecosystem soils. The four soil collection sites were Hluhluwe, Izingolweni, Bergville, and Ashburton. Présentation

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