Effect of row spacing on seed yield of hairy, common and Hungarian vetches

Abstract

Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), Hungarian vetch (Vicia pannonica Crantz) and the winter type of common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) were tested for the effect of row spacing (12.5 cm and 50 cm) on yield components and seed yield. The following parameters were analyzed: plant number per unit area, number of branches per plant, number of branches per unit area, crop height, plant length, lodging index, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 1000 seeds weight and seed yield. The wider row spacing significantly increased crop height, by 13.6%, reduced plant length by 8.5% and increased the lodging index by 22.3%. It also increased the number of branches per plant, the number of pods per plant, the number of seeds per pod, 1000-seed weight and seed yield (by 57.0%, 43.5%, 14.7%, 4.7% and 29.0%, respectively). The highest seed yield was obtained with the Hungarian vetch (1380 kg ha(-1)) and the lowest with the hairy vetch (784 kg ha(-1)).