Nitrogen Nutrition of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)

Abstract

SUMMARY: Effectively nodulated, pot-grown cowpea plants were irrigated with nutrient solution containing 25 ppm ¹⁵N, and the relative contributions to total plant N status of inorganic and nodule-fixed N were determined. Maximum rates of N assimilation occurred during pod-fill, with nodules contributing ten times more nitrogen than the applied source. Symbiotic fixation supplied over 80% of total plant N throughout growth, and contributed significantly to seed N during late pod-fill, when nutrient N assimilation was negligible. Vegetative N content was greatest at mid pod-fill, and mobilization from this 'pool' was equivalent to 44% of total seed N. The implications of these (and previously reported) data are discussed.