Rusdi Evizal, Irfan D. Prijambada, Jaka Widada, Donny Widianto and Tohari
The high diversity of Legume Nodulating Bacteria (LNB) was found in soil of agro-ecosystem of legume trees that has been established for long time. Incorporating legume trees as shading in coffee agro-ecosystems would conserve LNB diversity and provide ecosystem services such as N fixation, dinamic shading, and nutrient cycling. The aim of the experiment was to determine of wether legume shaded coffee agro-ecosystems have higher LNB diversity and higher coffee productivity than those of non-legume or sun (no shade) coffee agro-ecosystem. The experiment was conducted in West Lampung District, Indonesia, through out survey and experimental plot of coffee agro-ecosystems consisted of 4-5 years old coffee plot and a quassy experiment plot of 15-16 years old coffee. Types of coffee agroecosystems to be examined were Coffea canephora with shading of legume trees of Gliricidia sepium and Erythrina sububrams, non-legume shade trees of Michelia champaca, and sun coffee (without shade tree). The results showed that coffee agro-ecosystems shaded by legume trees had higher LNB diversity than those of coffee agro-ecosystems shaded by nonlegume trees (Michelia champaca) and coffee agro-ecosystem without shade trees. Diversity of legume nodulating bacteria in the soil may indicate productivity of coffee agro-ecosystems.
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