Full Length Research Paper

Response of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivars to foliar and soil applied boron in boron-deficient calcareous soils

Mustafa Harmankaya¹, Mustafa Önder², Mehmet Hamurcu¹, Ercan Ceyhan²* and Sait Gezgin¹

¹Department of Soil Science, Agriculture Faculty, University of Selcuk, Konya 42075, Turkey.

²Department of Field Crops, Agriculture Faculty, University of Selcuk, Konya 42075, Turkey.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: eceyhan@selcuk.edu.tr.

Accepted 25 July, 2008

Yield losses in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) may occur due to boron (B) deficiency when the susceptible cultivars are grown in calcareous boron deficient soils. The study was therefore aimed at investigating the effects of three B doses: control (0.0 kg ha^-1), soil application (3.0 kg ha^-1) and foliar fertilization (0.3 kg ha^-1) on yield and some yield components of six common bean genotypes in the B deficient soil (with available 0.19 mg B kg^-1). Plant height, pods per plant, seeds per pod, seed yield, protein content, 100-seed weight and B concentration in leaf were studied. Yield was obtained higher B applied genotypes than those of check. Applications both of soil and foliar B increased yield average of 10 and 20%, respectively. Genotypes had the highest seed yield when B was foliar applied indicating that soil factors affected available B. The highest seed yield was obtained from Karacaşehir-90 with 4078.2 kg ha^-1. Yunus-90 was found to be B tolerant, while the other genotypes appeared to be highly B sensitive. The result showed that B deficiency in common bean might lead to significant yield losses and foliar application should be advised.

Key words: Boron, common bean, foliar fertilization, seed yield, soil fertilization.