Eco-physiological studies of wild legumes of Gorakhpur, UP, India

Biological nitrogen fixation is an important aspect of nitrogen nutrition in crop production throughout the world. The process saves a huge sum of money, which otherwise would have to the pumped into agricultural productivity to consistently sustain an increasing world population. Among the various symbiotic associations, the Rhizobium - legume association is the most common in both temperate and tropical climates.The importance is not only limited to plant nutrition, but increasing environmental concerns indicate that high input of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture may lead to many environmental problems. The work presented is significant in providing a deeper knowledge of the biodiversity of wild legumes of this agro- climatic region and also in understanding the physiological and ecological parameters of the wild legumes, which may help in establishing an efficient rhizobial symbiosis constituting a fundamental source of nitrogen input to the ecosystem