Yield and Quality Response of Snap Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to P and S Fertilizers Application under Different Irrigation Regimes in Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Abstract

Snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a leading exportable vegetable crop and it is a protein source for consumers in many parts of Ethiopia. However, its’ current national productivity of 4.12 t ha^-1 is lower than its’ potential as a result of inadequate moisture and poor soil fertility. Therefore, the field experiment was conducted at Melkassa Agricultural Research Center during the dry season in 2017 and 2018 to evaluate the response of snap bean to phosphorus and sulfur fertilizers application under different irrigation regimes on yield and quality. The experiment was laid out in split-plot design with three replications. Four drip irrigation regimes (100, 85, 70 and 55% ETc) were assigned to main-plots. Four fertilizer types (0, 21 kg P ha^-1, 30 kg S ha^-1 and 21 kg P ha^-1+30 kg S ha^-1) were allocated to sub-plots. The analysis of variance revealed that the interaction effect of irrigation regimes and fertilizers application had a significant (P ≤ 0.05) effect on first grade and total pod yield. The main effect of various irrigation regimes had a significant (P ≤ 0.05) effect for all yield and quality parameters except, second grade pod yield and pod diameter. On the other hand, application of different fertilizers types had non-significant effect in all parameters. The highest marketable yield was recorded from the interaction effect of 100% ETc with different fertilizers types’ application. The partial budget analysis indicated that the best treatments were 85 and 100% ETc without fertilizers application, which gave higher net benefits of 111,879.2 and 160,242.6 ETB ha^-1, respectively with an acceptable marginal rate of returns for snap bean production. Therefore, snap bean producers could consider 85% ETc without fertilizers application where scarcity of irrigation water is limiting and 100% ETc without fertilizers application where there are no water shortages, in the central rift valley of Ethiopia with similar soil properties.

Keywords: fertilizers, irrigation, plati, yield

DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/12-15-03

Publication date:August 31^st 2021