Effect of plant density on common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) varieties at Jinka, South Omo Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

Common bean is an important pulse crop in Ethiopia. However, its yield is primarily limited by the lack of appropriate plant density for different varieties. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to assess the effect of plant density on the growth, yield, and yield components of common bean varieties during the 2018 main cropping season in Jinka, South Omo Zone, Ethiopia. The experiment consisted of six common bean varieties (Hawassa Dume, DAB-277, SER-125, SCR-26, Wajo and Remeda) and three plant densities: 333,333; 250,000 and 200,000 plants ha-1 with inter-row spacing (cm2) of 30 x 10; 50 x 10; and 40 x 10, respectively. The experiment was organized using a factorial arrangement in randomized complete block design with three replications. Growth parameters, yield and yield components data were collected and analyzed using SAS software program. The result revealed that, the highest leaf area, number of primary branches, pods and seeds plant-1 were obtained from variety SCR-26 at the lowest plant density of 200,000 plant ha-1 and the highest plant height was recorded for the Wajo variety at the highest plant density of 333,333 plant ha-1. The highest above-ground biomass corresponded to SCR-26 variety at plant density of 250,000 plants ha-1. The highest grain yield (3.51 t ha-1) was recorded for SCR-26 variety at the lowest plant density, followed by SER-125 (3.33 t ha-1) at the plant density of 250,000 plants ha-1. The optimum plant density for SCR-26, Wajo and Remeda were 200,000 plants ha-1 while for SER-125, DAB-277 and Hawassa Dume were 250,000 plants ha-1. In conclusion, sowing variety SCR-26 at 200,000 plant density ha-1 and variety SER-125 at 250,000 plant density are agronomically optimal for the study area. However, this tentative generalization, based on one season and one location, requires further studies over multiple years and locations to provide valid recommendations.