No abstract

Aims: This study was conducted to enhance the tolerance of common beans to drought events occurring at the reproductive stage, from a soil improvement perspective. Study Design: Split plot completely randomized design was used. Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted in a screen-house at the Legumes and Oil Seeds Division of CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Ghana, from September 2021 to January 2022. Methodology: Municipal Solid Waste Compost and inorganic fertilizer combinations were applied to common beans in a pot experiment. They included control, full rate compost (FRAC), full rate fertilizer (NPK 5:30:30 kg/ha) (FRG), FRG + half rate compost (HRAC) and FRG + FRAC. All soils were maintained at 80% field capacity (FC) from the start of the experiment. At flowering, two groups of plants were water stressed till 40 and 16% FC and returned to 80% FC till physiological maturity, while one group maintained 80% FC throughout study. Forty-five soil samples each and plant data were collected at 3, 7 and 10 weeks after planting. Samples were analyzed for soil organic matter (SOM) and water retention, soil nutrients, crop growth, yield and nutrient uptake. Water and nitrogen use efficiencies (W/NUE) were calculated after harvest. Results: During the growing period, highest soil moisture (6-9 cm3/cm3) was retained by FRG and FRG+HRAC, FRG+FRAC; 20-38% more than FRAC and control but was not influenced by SOM. While FRG influenced the highest yield and WUE, combining it with compost rates reduced yield by 56-84% and WUE by 55-64%. WUE correlated positively with NUE. Conclusion: Antagonistic effect observed with integrating compost with FRG is likely because compost was not properly cured and immobilized soil nitrogen. Farmers can mitigate short-term drought effects on common beans with adequate nutrient supply through fertilizer application; however, fertilizer should only be integrated with compost after compost quality analysis.

No abstract

Phosphorus (P) is a vital element required for nodulation, stomatal regulation and photosynthesis in legume crops. P-deficiency in tropical soils limits the growth and productivity of Bambara groundnuts. The current study focused on determining the potential suitability of underutilized crops for food security using phosphorus fertilizer as soil amendment practice. A field trial was carried out at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), over two growing seasons to determine the optimum P rate for Bambara production. This trial was laid out in a split plot in a randomized block design with three replications. Bambara genotypes represented the main plots while four P fertilizer rates (0, 30, 45 and 60 kg P 2 O 5 ha −1 ) were the sub-plots. The appropriate application rate of 60 kg P 2 O 5 ha −1 showed excellent performance based on growth and yield analysis, and the results indicate a positive significant interaction between landraces and phosphorus fertilizer rates. The biological suitability of 60 kg P 2 O 5 ha −1 increased the number of nodules per plant for Tiga Necuru, Kenya Capstone and Nav Red by 42.8%, 51.3% and 42.1% respectively, over control plots. The same for pod yield is 12%, 28% and 52% significantly higher than when P was applied at 45, 30 and 0 kg P 2 O 5 ha −1 respectively. The results further revealed that on days to flowering and maturity, the plant height, the number of branches and dry matter increased significantly at each level of P fertilizer