Bean yield under irrigation depths and tillage systems

Abstract

Yield response data of crops to soil and water management are vital for maximizing profits. This research aimed to evaluate the yield of the ‘IPR Andorinha’ bean cultivar under distinct irrigation depths (0, 25, 48, 100 and 130 % of the net irrigation depth) and tillage systems (no-tillage and conventional tillage), during the Brazilian fall season. The experimental design was in strips with subdivided plots and four replications, with the factor soil management in the plot and irrigation depths in the subplot. No-tillage had an average grain yield 26.5 % higher than that of the conventional tillage. Both the soil management treatments presented a quadratic response (R² > 90 %) to the irrigation depths applied, and the maximum yields were reached at 63.8 % (y = 2,452 kg ha-1) and 81.8 % (y = 1,789 kg ha-1) of the irrigation depth, respectively for the no-tillage and conventional tillage. However, the irrigation of bean cropped in the Brazilian fall season is not economically feasible for the no-tillage and conventional tillage when the price of the water millimeter is 43.19 and 33.27 times higher than the price of the bean kilogram, respectively, resulting in yields of 1,345.2 and 699.4 kg ha-1.

KEYWORDS: Phaseolus vulgaris, no-tillage, conventional tillage.