Response of butter beans (Phaseolus lunatus L.) for different combinations of nitrogen and phosphorus on growth, yield and quality characters

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during June-October (2017) at Horticultural Research Station, Kodaikanal to study the response of butter beans for different combinations of nitrogen and phosphorus on growth, yield and quality characters. A randomized block design was followed with 17 combinations of N (30, 40, 50 and 60 kg/ha), P (37.5, 50, 62.5 and 75 kg/ha) and additional combination of 70: 75:50   kg N P₂O₅ K₂O/ha. K 50 kg/ha was kept constant. The experimental results revealed that all the fertilizer treatments significantly increased the plant height, number of branches per plant, days to 50 % flowering, number of pods per cluster, 100 seed weight, pod weight, pod yield per hectare, protein content and crude fibre content of butter beans. Maximum plant height (220.33 cm), number of branches per plant (4.79), minimum days to 50 % flowering (50) and 100 seed weight were recorded in the combination of 50 kg N, 37.5 kg P₂O₅ and 50 kg K₂O per hectare. Number of pods per cluster (6.78), pod weight (14.00 g) and pod yield per hectare (5.85 t) were maximum in the combination of 60 kg N, 75 kg P₂O₅ and 50 kg K₂O per hectare.