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Effects of Winged Bean on a Following Maize Crop

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

R. R. Weil
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
A. Samaranayake
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Summary

The effects of winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) on a following crop of maize were assessed in two agroecological zones of Sri Lanka. Maize was grown after maize with variable rates of nitrogen fertilizer (0–150 kg N ha−1) or after winged bean or soyabean (Glytine max). Where it could be extrapolated from the nitrogen response curve, the apparent nitrogen contribution by winged bean was 70 kg N ha−1. However, in some cases maize after winged bean yielded more than the maximum yield predicted by the Mitscherlich N-response curve, suggesting the effect of some yield-enhancing mechanism in addition to nitrogen contribution. Where no fertilizer nitrogen was used, maize yields on land which had previously grown winged bean were 52–91% higher than those where maize was the previous crop. Winged bean proved to be an effective green manure crop even when all above-ground plant parts were harvested for food and fodder.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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