Growth and biomass partitioning in mungbean with elevated carbon dioxide, phosphorus levels and cyanobacteria inoculation

Mungbean is an important leguminous crop providing protein for the rural and urban poor in South and Southeast Asia. An experiment was conducted in free air carbon dioxide enrichment facility (FACE) ring to study the impact of increased CO2 level on growth and biomass partitioning in mungbean crop. The crop was grown under ambient (400 mu mol mol(-1)) and elevated CO2 concentration (550 mu mol mol(-1)) with 5 doses of P with and without cyanobacterial inoculation. Elevated CO2 significantly increased biomass accumulation in mungbean crop which was further increased by P and cyanobacteria application. Leaf biomass increased by 34.4% at increased CO2 level. Maximum biomass allocation to seeds was observed with P dose of 16 mg kg(-1) soil in both ambient and elevated CO2 conditions. Allocation was more in high CO2 treatment. The study concludes that mungbean crop grown under elevated CO2 condition accumulates more biomass which gets further improved by application of P nutrient and cyanobacteria inoculation.