Effects of Vermicompost, Compost and NPK Fertilizer on the Growth and Yield of Bush Bean, Yardlong Bean and Winged Bean.

Effects of vermicompost, compost and NPK fertilizer on the growth and yield of bush bean, yard long bean and winged bean Motior M. Rahman1*, M. Aminul islam2, Sofian-Azirun, M.2, Amru N.B.2 1Present address: Department of Agronomy, School of Engineering in Food Sciences, Biotechnology and Agronomy Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM), Campus-Querétaro, México 2Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia *To whom all correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mmotiorrahman@gmail.com Abstract A greenhouse study was conducted to grow healthier and quality vegetables at the University of Malay, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Bush bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) and yard long bean (Vigna unguiculata) are the most popular legume vegetables in Southeast Asia. All the three legume vegetables were grown with vermicompost (20%), compost (20%) and apposite rate of NPK fertilizer (farmers practice) to determine plant growth, fresh pod yield, photosynthetic rate, N uptake and quality. Winged bean grown with vermicompost produced the highest number of pods per plant, fresh pod yield per plant, superior pod length, single pod weight and total dry matter. Bush bean and yardlong bean grown with vermicompost also performed well but fresh pod yield and yield attributes were comparatively poorer than winged bean. Regardless of plant species, vermicompost produced the highest plant height and number of nodules per plant. Photosynthetic rate (Pn) reached optimal at pod formation stage regardless of plant species and organic or inorganic fertilizers but the highest Pn was obtained in winged bean grown with vermicompost. However, protein content in pods was appreciably higher in bush bean and yardlong bean grown with vermicompost. The highest N uptake (15 g m-2) was recorded in winged bean grown with vermicompost. All tested legume vegetables grown with inorganic fertilizer did not perform well compared with plants grown with compost or vermicompost. The results revealed that vermicompost showed superior performance with regards to all attributes.