Abstract

Mung bean, the most important and short duration pulse crop, grown for grain from tropical to sub-tropical climates is low in productivity and lacks recommended inter-row spacing and NP fertilizer rate for various agro-ecologies. A study was conducted to determine inter-row spacing and NP fertilizer rates for yield and yield components of mung bean at Mirab Abaya. The experiment consisted of three inter-row spacing (15 × 10, 25×10 and 35× 10 cm) and five levels of combined NP fertilizer rates (control; 20.5:23, 41:46, 61.5: 69 and 82:92 NP kg ha-1). The treatments were laid out in a factorial experiment in a randomized completely block design with three replications. The result indicated that significantly (p < 0.05)  maximum grain yield (2346.67 kg ha-1), number of grains per pod (10.7), biological yield (8094 kg ha-1), straw yield (5747.4 kg ha-1) was attained at an inter-row spacing of 25 × 10 cm and significantly maximum grain yield (2511.1 kg ha-1), number of grains per pod (12), 100 seed weight (4.34 g), biological yield (8897.8 kg ha-1) and straw yield (6387 kg ha-1) was recorded when applying combined NP fertilizer rate at 61.5:69 kg ha-1. According to the partial budget analysis, a high net benefit (birr 53745.75) was obtained at an NP level of 61.5:69 kg ha-1. Therefore, a combined NP fertilizer application rate of 61.5:69 kg ha-1 accompanied with an inter-row spacing of 25 × 10 cm is recommended at Mirab Abaya and related agro-ecologies for increasing Mung bean grain yield.

Key words: Agroecologies, combined NP, inter-row, Mung bean.