Optimisation of the Vegetable Bean Production Process by Selecting Cultivars and Using Drip Irrigation

For the agricultural sector, there is a current trend of expanding the range of vegetables. Modern agricultural production is impossible without the cultivation of legumes – a cheap source of vegetable protein and one of the important links on which depends the balance of organic matter in the soil. The purpose of the study conducted in 2019-2020 was to investigate the cultivar specifics and the influence of drip irrigation on the growth and yield of vegetable beans and the development of a symbiotic system. The research involved field, laboratory, statistical, and calculation-analytical methods. Studies have indicated that the use of drip irrigation contributed to an earlier emergence of seedlings, a reduction in interphase periods, and earlier arrival of vegetable products by 4-7 days, depending on the cultivar. The weight of green beans increased by 35.9-41.9 g, depending on the cultivar. Yields of green beans increased by 3.5 t/ha (32.1%) in Karadag cultivar, 3.6 t/ha (31.3%) in Windsor cultivar, and 4.2 t/ha (39.2%) in Ukrainian Sloboda and Windsor cultivars. Among the experimental variants, the most productive cultivar on the dry-farming lands was the Ukrainian Sloboda, and on irrigated lands – Belarusian, Ukrainian Sloboda, and Windsor. The results indicate that the most developed nodulation apparatus was established in the Ukrainian Sloboda cultivar, where the largest mass was developed, but nodules on the plant were small (0.9 g on dry-farming lands and 1.3 g on irrigated lands). In general, drip irrigation contributed to the improved development of legume-rhizobial symbiosis of vegetable bean plants. The mass of the nodules on the drip irrigation increased by 0.3 g/plant regardless of the cultivar, and their amount increased by 1.5-9.0 pcs/plant. The presented results give an idea of legume agrocenosis functioning and the impact of irrigation on the main quality indicators of the product. Further research lies in the examination of the modes (rates, timing, multiplicity) of irrigation and their impact on the productivity of vegetable bean plants