Pulses improve the soil

Scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) stated recently that chickpea and pigeonpea roots improve the soil by increasing the availability of phosphorus and the water infiltration rate. This is because chickpea roots exude large amounts of acid that dissolve calcium-bound phosphorus in soils, and pigeonpea roots discharge components that can release iron-bound phosphorus. At an International Workshop on Phosphorus Nutrition of Grain Legumes in the Semi-Arid Tropics in January 1990, ICRISAT scientists, working on a project funded by the Japanese government, produced evidence that sorghum grows better after pigeonpea, and that pigeonpea does better after chickpea. ICRISAT, Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh 502 324, INDIA **AT ICRISAT has now been relaunched as SAT (Semi-Arid Tropics News, with a much wider-ranging field of interest, although it will still report items of ICRISAT news.International Workshop on Phosphorus Nutrition of Grain Legumes in the Semi-Arid Tropics in January 1990