Optimising Plant Establishment 2020 Rupanyup Faba Bean Experiment

Full description

Data from the 2020 crop establishment trial at Rupanyup, VIC. The trial compared the establishment of faba bean at different densities, under a conventional cone seeder and under a precision seeder, and at two different row spacings (narrow vs wide rows). The experiment was run under the UOA1803-009RTX GRDC research project led by the University of Adelaide, and the experimental trial and data collection were managed locally in Rupanyup by the Birchip Cropping Group (BCG).

Files:2020 Birchip faba bean.xlsx

Experiment setup:Experiment managed locally by the Birchip Cropping Group (BCG). The trial was organised as a split split plot with 4 treatments of target plant densities (5, 10, 20 and 30 plants/m2), two different seeders used (conventional cone seeder vs precision seeder), and two different row spacings (narrow vs wide row spacings), with 4 replicates. The design was embedded in a spatial grid with 16 rows (not including the two buffer rows on either side of the trial extent) and 4 ranges, for 64 plots total.

Variables recorded:establishment count (plants/m2), seedling depth (mm), interplant distance (cm), NDVI, biomass weight (g), biomass (t/ha), yield (t/ha), 1000-grain weight (g), harvest weight (kg), seed count (seeds/m2)

Data collection and assessment:Plant establishment counts were measured in three 1-metre sections pinned across the plot, with the counts being made on 5 separate measuring occasions between 29/05/2020 and 17/06/2020. Sowing depths for the seedlings were recorded for 10 plants but for only two of the treatments. Interplant distances were also measured. NDVI measurements were made on 29/07/2020 and 23/09/2020 at each plot. Biomass cuts were taken and weighed at Growth Stages 65 and 99, with the weights recorded in grams. At harvest, the yield in t/ha, 1000-grain weight in g, harvest weight in kg and seeds/m2 were recorded.