Effects of Microbial Fertilizer and Vermicompost Applications on the Yield and Yield Related Parameters of Broad Bean (Vicia faba L.) under Eastern Mediterranean Highland Agroclimatic Conditions

Abstract

Background: This study was conducted to determine the effects of microbial fertilizer and vermicompost applications on the yield and yield related parameters of broad beans (Vicia faba L.) under zero chemical fertilizer applied conditions. Trial area was a highland remote to sea under Mediterranean climate in South Eastern Anatolia of Turkey. It is located in fertile crescent and 180 km away to Karacadag Mountains (Diyarbakir) where Einkorn wheat (Aegilops monococcum L.) was first cultivated in history approximately ten thousand years ago. The broad bean was also among the founder crops of the Near East including the trial location. Methods: Rhizobium leguminosarum inoculant were used as microbial fertilizer in the experiments. Applied vermicompost doses were 0, 400, 800 and 1200 kg ha(-1). The trials was conducted for two years and replicated thrice in a randomized block deign. Conclusion: Application of vermicompost was found significantly effective on the plant height, first pod height, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 grain weight and grain yield. Aapplication of 800 kg ha(-1) and 120 kg ha(-1) vermicompost along with Rhizobium leguminosarum inoculation was found superior for grain yield.