Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) are among the main sources of plant protein for a large part of the world population, mainly that of low income, and nitrogen is the main constituent of these proteins. The objectives of this study were to evaluate, through the 15N-dilution technique and using rice and non-nodulating soybean as control plants, the relative contributions of nitrogen sources (symbiotically fixed N, soil native N and fertilizer N) on the growth of common bean and cowpea and to compare the isotopic technique (ID) with the difference methods (DM) for the evaluation of symbiotic N2 fixation. The study was carried out in a greenhouse of the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture - CENA/USP, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, using 5 kg pots with a Typic Haplustox (Dystrophic Red-Yellow Latosol). The experiment was arranged in completely randomized blocks, with 16 treatments and three replications, in an 8 x 2 factorial design. The treatments were eight sampling times: 7, 24, 31, 38, 47, 58, 68 and 78 days after sowing (DAS) and two crops: common bean and cowpea. An N rate of 10 mg kg-1 soil was used, as urea, enriched with an excess of 10 % of 15N atoms. Symbiotic N fixation supplied the bean and cowpea plants with the greatest amount of accumulated N, followed, in decreasing order, by soil and fertilizer. The highest rate of N symbiotic fixation was observed at the pre-flowering growth stage of the bean and cowpea plants. After the initial growth stage, 24 DAS, rice and non nodulating soybean were appropriate control plants to evaluate symbiotic N fixation. There was a good agreement between ID and DM, except in the initial growth stage of the crops.
nitrogen-15; symbiotic nitrogen fixation; nitrogen absorption; legumes
