On the Effect of the Atmospheric Nitrogen-fixing Blue-green Algae on the Yield of Rice

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Abstract
An atmospheric nitrogen-fixing blue-green alga, Tolypothrix tenuis from Borneo, was applied on the rice plant in paddy field experiments. In these experiments it was examined whether or not the inoculation of the paddy field with Tolypothrix tenuis which is a powerful nitrogen-fixer was conducive to higher yield of rice, through the contribution of the plant remains to the increase in soil fertility. These experiments were done in eight agricultural experiment stations and three universities during the past four years. As a result of applying this blue-green alga, the yield of rice increased by 2.7% in the first year, 8.4% in the second year, 19.1% in the third year and 21.8% in the fourth year, on an average of eleven fields. In the first year, only the one-third of the algae which multiplied in the paddy fields was decomposed and absorbed by the rice plants and the remains were contained as the nitrogen fertilizer in the soil. This is the reason why the effect of the algae on the yield of rice increases year by year. In one experiment, it was made clear that the effect of the inoculation of the paddy field with this alga was almost similar to that of manuring it with 64 pounds of ammonium sulfate/acre as the additional fertilizer.

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