Influence of Soil Amendment on the Relative Growth Rate and Net Assimilation Rate of Phaseolus vulgaris and Vigna aconitifolia

Background: Soil pH is one of the most important factors that contribute to crop growth and productivity. The present research was designed to assess the influence of soil amendment using organic manure and agricultural lime on the relative growth rate (RGR) and net assimilation rate (NAR) of Phaseolus vulgaris and Vigna aconitifolia grown on soils from different locations.

Methodology: The three locations were: Akamkpa, Calabar Municipality and Odukpani. The pH for the three soil locations were 4.0, 7.0 and 9.0, respectively. The treatments were; control (0 g), OM1 (100 g organic manure), OM2 (200 g organic manure), AL1 (100 g agricultural lime), AL2 (200 g agricultural lime), OM1 + AL1 (50 g organic manure + 50 g agricultural lime) and OM2 +AL2 (100 g organic manure and 100 g agricultural lime).

Results: Results obtained on the RGR of the leaf dry weight of P. vulgaris treated with OM2 was the highest (0.50 g/wk) followed by OM1 (0.41 g/wk). OM1 + AL1 had the highest RGR of the stem dry weight of P. vulgaris grown on soil from Calabar Municipality. In the RGR of the root dry weight, OM2 had the highest mean value in both plants grown on Akamkpa soil. Results obtained at 4 weeks after planting (WAP) revealed that there was significant (P<0.05) increase in NAR of plants grown on soil from Akamkpa. The highest NAR was obtained for V. aconitifolia treated with OM2 (0.0447 g/wk) followed by OM2 + AL2 (0.0057 g/wk) for both V. aconitifolia and P. vulgaris. P. vulgaris grown on Akamkpa and Odukpani soils treated with AL2 (0.0032 g/wk), OM1 + AL1 (0.0041 g/wk) and OM2+ AL2 (0.0062 g/wk) had the highest NAR at 8 WAP.

Conclusion: The RGR and NAR of the two bean varieties were improved following treatments with organic manure and agricultural lime.