Growth and Yield of Lima Beans as Influenced by Population Density and Staking Alternatives

Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) remains an underutilized legume in Nigeria, partly due to limited agronomic recommendations for optimizing its productivity. The present study investigated the effects of staking methods and plant population density on some agronomic properties of two accessions of Lima bean. The experiment was conducted out at Institute of Agricultural Research and Training research station situated at Ikenne, Ogun state in 2023 and 2024. The treatment combinations consisted of two lima bean accessions (2005-012A and 2006-005A) planted at three population densities: 17777, 13333 and 10000 plant ha⁻¹ respectively and two staking alternatives (trellis staking and vertical staking) with no stakes as control. The experimental design was a split-split plot in a randomized complete block with accession, staking methods and population densities assigned as the main plot, sub-plot and sub-sub plot respectively. Data were analysed using ANOVA with mean separated at α=0.05. Vertical staking consistently enhanced vine length, leaf production, biomass accumulation, pod parameters, and grain yield relative to trellis and no staking treatments. Grain yield ranged from 253.1 (10000 plants ha⁻¹) to 347.7 kg ha⁻¹ (13333 plants ha⁻¹). Accession 2006-005A outperformed 2005-012A in grain yield by 25%. No stakes resulted in delayed flowering and the lowest yield (225.14 kg ha⁻¹) compared to vertical (361.94 kg ha⁻¹) and trellis staking (313.08 kg ha⁻¹). The study recommends vertical staking combined with a plant population density of 13333 plants ha⁻¹ for improved lima bean productivity in the study area.