Tropical and subtropical vegetables (2+1)

Land preparation

• The soil should be ploughed, clods are broken and weeds are removed and brought to fine tilth by shallow cultivation.

Seed rate
The seed rate varies considerably depending on the variety, soil and climatic conditions. The rate for bush varieties is 60-65 kg/ha while it is 25-30kg/ha for pole varieties. Inoculation of seed with rhizobium species facilitates quick nodulation on the roots, and help in the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen.

Sowing
The seeds of bush beans are sown in rows 30-45 cm apart and 10-15 cm away from seed to seed whereas pole beans are in the spacing’s of 60 cm to100 cm between rows and plant to plant 30cm. the depth of the sowing shall be 2 cm. To avoid fungal infection, treat the seed with Rhizobium phaseoli @ 30 g/kg of seed.

Nutrition
Before sowing, at the time of ploughing apply FYM @ 25 t/ha. Although French bean is a legume, it responds well to the application of nitrogen. Application of 63kg N, 100 kg P2O5 and 75kg K2O ha is recommended. Half of the N along with entire dose of P and K fertilizer should be applied at the time of sowing. Remaining half of N should be applied at the time of earthing up after 3rd week of sowing. Spraying micronutrients improves the quality besides increasing yield.

Irrigation
Prior to sowing the plots are irrigated and after 2-3 days when the soil is in moist condition seeds are sown along the sides of the ridges. Light irrigation is given after 2nd to 3rd day after sowing. French bean is shallow rooted crop. Water stress has marked influence on yield and quality of pods. About 6-7 irrigations would be required at regular intervals. Depending upon the atmospheric conditions, the amount of irrigation will be decided. The crop should be irrigated at an interval of one week. Excess water reduces nodule formation and ultimately growth of plant.

Weed control
A pre sowing application of fluchloralin @ 2 l/ha checks the weed growth. At least two hand weedings are required before earthing up. Shallow cultivation during the early stages of crop is necessary to check the weeds and to facilitate earthing up. At the later stages of the crop growth, the weeds are kept under check due to the thick canopy of the crop.

Staking
Staking is an important operation for pole beans. The bamboo sticks or other wooden sticks or branches which are locally suitable can be used for the support. If the plants are grown in rows, single stick of about 2m length should be fixed near the plant. If the plants are grown in hills, the twigs and branches will give good support.

Use of growth regulators
Application of growth regulators improves the plant growth, flowering fruit set and pod yield in French bean. Plant regulators like PCPA @ 2ppm, L-naphthly acetamide or B-naphthal acetic acid at 5-25ppm shown favourable effect on fruit set. GA3 sprayed at 50-200 ppm proved effective in improving the crop growth. Paclobutrazol at 150 ppm can be used for increasing yield and suppressing vegetative growth of pole type varieties of French bean.

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