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Biological Nitrogen Fixation: The Role of Underutilized Leguminous Plants

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Microorganisms for Green Revolution

Part of the book series: Microorganisms for Sustainability ((MICRO,volume 6))

Abstract

Soils in different parts of the world are generally being depleted of nitrogen (N), and this has now become a huge challenge to food production and security. Different sources of nutrients for enriching the soil have been evaluated in the past years especially the use of chemical fertilizers, but its usage is gradually dwindling as a result of numerous constraints, among which are environmental pollution, health challenges, and the negative impact of climate change. Better alternative strategies of replacing depleted soil N have been researched which include biological N fixation (BNF) using leguminous crops. Leguminous crops planted as cover crops, together with the symbiotic activities between root nodule bacteria and legumes, are the source of biologically fixed N. Because of the genetic diversity in legumes, there are so many underutilized leguminous crops whose potentials have not been fully tapped to understand their functionalities within the realm of BNF. This chapter brings to the limelight some of these legumes for biotechnological purpose in a bid to find a solution to soil infertility using the available cropping systems.

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Acknowledgments

South Africa’s National Research Foundation granted OOB research funds (UID81192 and UID104015) that have supported her work in the laboratory. North-West University granted CFA a student bursary.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food Security and Safety Area, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho, 2735, South Africa

    Olubukola Oluranti Babalola, Oluwaseyi Samuel Olanrewaju, Caroline Fadeke Ajilogba & Funso Raphael Kutu

  2. Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Edifício C2, Piso 5, Sala 2.51.03, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Teresa Dias & Cristina Cruz

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  1. Olubukola Oluranti Babalola
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  2. Oluwaseyi Samuel Olanrewaju
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  4. Caroline Fadeke Ajilogba
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  5. Funso Raphael Kutu
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  6. Cristina Cruz
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Correspondence to Olubukola Oluranti Babalola .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Microbiology, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India

    Deepak G. Panpatte

  2. Department of Agricultural Microbiology, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India

    Yogeshvari K. Jhala

  3. Department of Agricultural Microbiology, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India

    Rajababu V. Vyas

  4. Department of Agricultural Microbiology, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India

    Harsha N. Shelat

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Babalola, O.O., Olanrewaju, O.S., Dias, T., Ajilogba, C.F., Kutu, F.R., Cruz, C. (2017). Biological Nitrogen Fixation: The Role of Underutilized Leguminous Plants. In: Panpatte, D., Jhala, Y., Vyas, R., Shelat, H. (eds) Microorganisms for Green Revolution. Microorganisms for Sustainability, vol 6. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6241-4_20

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