Effects of sowing methods and seeding rates on growth and yield characteristics of phasey bean (Macroptilium lathyroides)

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of sowing methods (broadcast or row sowing) and seeding rate (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0 g/m²) on growth, yield characteristics, and forage quality of phasey bean (Macroptilium lathyroides (L.) Urb.) cv. “Murray”). Experiments were carried out in 2002 and 2003. Sowing method affected dry-matter yield (DMY): broadcast sowing resulted in higher DMY than row sowing in 2002, and during the first harvest in 2003. Dry-matter digestibility (DMD) and crude protein (CP) concentration were not influenced by the sowing method, except when DMD and CP of the broadcast sowing treatment increased as the plant weight increased. Contrary to expectation, seeding rate did not affect leaf area index, DMY, DMD, CP, digestible dry-matter yield or CP yield. Even the lowest seeding rate did not influence the yield and forage quality of phasey bean, compared with the recommended higher seeding rate.