Plant Population Effects on the Seed Yield of Phaseolus vulgaris L

Crothers, S.E. and Westermann, D.T. (1976) Plant Population Effects on the Seed Yield of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Agronomy Journal. 68(6):958-960.

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Abstract

Seed yields of Phaseolus vulgaris L. have not increased
under the current production systems even with more
precise management inputs. Recent studies of snap beans
grown for processing suggested that yields could be increased
by high density planting. Our study was made
to evaluate the effects of plant populations on the seed
yields of four representative field and snap bean cultivars
grown under sprinkler irrigation on a Portneuf silt loam
(Xerollic Calciorthid).

Two cultivars each of bush snap beans and semivining
field beans were grown in plant populations of 107,600 to
968,700 plants/ha in nearly equidistant plant arrangements.
The optimum plant population or seed yield
for the bush cultivars was approximately 400,000 plants/
ha and less than 300,000 plants/ha for the semivining
cultivars. At smaller plant populations, seed yields decreased
for the bush cultivars and remained constant for
the semivining cultivars. The harvest index (seed weight/
total plant weight) increased slightly for the bush cultivars
as their plant population decreased, but remained
constant for the semivining cultivars up to 300,000 plants/
ha, then increased rapidly. The production index (seed
yield/amount seeded) increased curvilinearly as plant
population decreased for all cultivars. Plant maturity
was advanced 7 to 10 days at the highest plant populations
for all cultivars. Pods were located at upper nodes
on the plants as the populations increased. These results
suggest that greater seed yields could be expected with
the equidistant plant arrangements as compared with
conventional row plantings for the bush cultivars, but not
for the semivining cultivars, primarily because of the
ability of the semivining cultivars to compensate for the
increased area/plant at smaller plant populations.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	0370
Subjects:	Mass Import - unclassified
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:51
Last Modified:	09 Feb 2017 18:24
Item ID:	316
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/316