Effects of Strains and Vermicompost Application on Growth and Yield Components of Faba Bean Under Greenhouse Condition
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is one of the major leguminous crops grown in the world. However, the national average faba bean yield is very low compared to its potential yield in Ethiopia, particularly in north eastern Ethiopia due to lack of organic fertilizer and insufficient number of indigenous Rhizobium. To achieve this objective, this green house experiment was arranged in CRD with three replications in the factorial combination of three levels of rhizobium strains (non-inoculated, RS-17 and RS-1035) and four rates of vermicompost (0, 5, 10 and 15 ton/ha) treatments. It was carried out from October 2020 to May 2021 using Dosha faba bean. All growth and yield parameters data were given to the analysis of variance (ANOVA) using statistical analysis software version 9.4. The result showed that the main effect of rhizobium strains enhanced growth parameters (nodule number, symbiotic effectiveness, and number of leaves per plant) while improving total biomass yield. Whereas, the main effect of vermicompost rate were predominantly on yield parameters (number of productive piller, number of pod per plant, number of seed per pod, straw yield, total biomass yield) while improving plant height and number of leaves per plant. On the other hand, the interaction effect of rhizobium strains and vermicompost rate affected plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of seed per pod, straw yield, and total biomass yield. Treatments that received combined RS-17 and 15 ton/ha vermicompost provided the maximum plant height (79.3 cm), number of leaves (70.5), number of seeds (3.75), straw yield (191.6kg/ha) and biomass yield (5.686 ton/ha). This implies that combined application of vermicompost and using inoculated seed can improve productivity faba bean at smallholder farmers’ level. Therefore, it is recommended to use integrated application of 15 ton/ha vermicompost and RS-17 inoculants to increase productivity of faba bean in the study area. Furthermore, the experiment should be supported by field studies on different area soils.
Author: Gezahagn Goshu Abate
Institution: Wollo University
Language: English
Subfield: Soil Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4383619312