Growth, yield and quality of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) in response to sowing date and phosphorus fertilization

An experiment was carried out to study the effect of date of sowing and level of phosphorus on the yield, yield components and seed protein content of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during November 2018 to March 2019 to study the influence of sowing date and phosphorous fertilization on the growth, yield and quality of faba bean (V. faba). Three date of sowing viz. 25 November, 5 December, 15 December and five levels of phosphorus viz., 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 kg P ha-1 were used in this experiment laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications.  At 60 DAS, 25 November sowing fertilized with 40 kg P ha-1 showed significant influence on all characters except dry matter production. Early sowing on 25 November produced the tallest plant (42.95 cm), highest number of branches plant-1 (8.31), number of pods plant-1 (49.87), 1000-seed weight (97.55 g), seed yield (1.21 t ha-1), stover yield (1.98 t ha-1) and seed protein content (31.54%) while the corresponding lowest values were recorded from late sowing on  15 December. The crop fertilized with 40 kg P ha-1 produced the highest number of branches plant-1 (8.33), number of pods plant-1 (49.05), 1000-seed weight (97.40 g), seed yield (1.33 t ha-1), stover yield (2.28 t ha-1) and seed protein content (38.17%) while control treatment (0 kg P ha-1) produced the lowest values of all parameters. In case of interaction, the highest number of pods plant-1 (58.42), seed yield (1.59 t ha-1), stover yield (2.44 t ha-1) and protein content in seeds (39.60) were recorded with 25 November sowing fertilized with 40 kg P ha-1 whereas the lowest seed yield (0.54 t ha-1), stover yield (1.32 t ha-1) and seed protein content (25.90%) were obtained from 15 December sowing along with control treatment. Therefore, early sowing (25 November) with 40 kg P ha-1 appears as the promising combination for higher yield and seed protein content of faba bean.