ISHS Acta Horticulturae 362: International Symposium on Agrotechnics and Storage of Vegetable and Ornamental Seeds
TIME OF SOWING, PLANT DENSITY, WEED CONTROL, CULTIVARS AND SEED YIELD OF BORLOTTO BEAN |
| Authors: | A. Elia, V.V. Bianco, G. Sarli |
| Abstract:
Field trials were conducted to evaluate the effect of sowing time (May and July), plant density (29, 36 and 50 plants m-2) and weed control (chemical and/or mechanical) on seed yield, and seed quality of 11 cultivars of borlotto bean ('Ania', 'Borlotto di Praga', 'Borlotto lingua di fuoco', 'Borlotto sel. 45', 'Bea', 'Mary', 'Mistral', 'Rene di gallo', 'Salinga', 'Saluggia' and 'Taylor's'). Yield stability of cultivars over the years is also discussed. Sowing in July, compared to May, gave a higher seed yield (2.4 vs 1.6 t ha-1), more seeds in the upper size class (80 vs. 58%) and a higher 1000 seeds weight (675 vs. 483 g). The increase in plant density resulted in a quadratic yield increase: 1.4 t ha-1 with 29 plants m-2 and 2.0 t ha-1 with 39 and 50 plants m-2; with the latter a higher percentage of smaller seeds was also recorded. Trifluralin coupled with hoeing gave the best weed control and had a positive effect upon the yield and the quality of seeds. The cv. Bea, 'Mary', and 'Salinga' resulted unstable over the years in the environmental conditions of southern Italy. | |
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