Question

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth. But farmers who cultivate pulse crops like green gram, Bengal gram, black gram, etc. do not apply nitrogenous fertilizers during cultivation. Why?

Answer 1

Pulse crops like green gram, Bengal gram, black gram etc., are leguminous crops that have a symbiotic association with Rhizobium bacteria. Rhizobium converts the atmospheric nitrogen into a soluble form (nitrogen fixation) in the soil. Plants absorb this soluble form of nitrogen from the soil. Thus, the growing of leguminous crops helps to enrich the soil with nitrogen and there is no need to apply nitrogenous fertilisers to the leguminous crops.