Effect of Different Phosphorus and Potassium Levels on a Seed Crop of French Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during 2017-18 and 2018-19 at Amar Singh College, Lakhaoti, Bulandshahr (Uttar Pradesh) to assess the effect of different levels of phosphorus and potassium on a seed crop of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). The experiment consisted of nine treatment combinations involving three doses of phosphorus (35, 70 and 105 kg P ha-1) and three doses of potassium (30, 60 and 90 kg K ha-1) plus a uniform dose of 70 kg N ha-1 (RDN). The nine treatment combinations were evaluated against the control (RDN + 0 kg P + 0 kg K ha-1) in randomized block design with three replications. The effect of different treatments on plant vegetative characters, root characters, and different attributing traits of seed yield and seed quality were appraised. Results indicated that combined application of 70 kg P + 60 kg K ha-1 along with RDN resulted in significantly higher plant height (40.8 cm), number of branches per plant (8.1), number of leaves per plant (13.7), primary root length (12.8 cm), number of nodules per plant (10.0), number of mature pods per plant (22.8), number of seeds per pod (8.3), test weight of seed (107.6 g) and seed weight per plant (13.68 g). The same treatment also resulted in significantly higher seed yield (1710.0 kg ha-1) over the control (993.8 kg ha-1), an increment of 172% over the control. Although, application of higher doses of phosphorus @ 105 kg ha-1 and potash @ 90 kg ha-1 recorded maximum values for these characters, but they were at par with 70 kg P + 60 kg K ha-1, hence the effects of higher dose of phosphorus and potash beyond this level were non-significant. The findings of this study indicated that 70 kg P + 60 kg K along with 70 kg N ha-1 may be considered as an optimum dose of fertilizers for better yield and quality of French bean seed in north Indian plain conditions.