Effect of a bio-extract solution from water convolvulus and gypsum on yield and quality of yardlong bean seed

An experiment to determine yardlong bean seed production using an organic farming system by application of a bio-extract solution from water convolvulus rated 1:1,000, gypsum rated 50 kg./rai, anda bio-extract solution from water convolvulus rated 1:1,000 + gypsum rated 50 kg./rai, compared with a conventional method (chemical application) for control, was done at the Department of Plant Science,Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai campus, Songkhla, during January-March, 2004. The results showed that yardlong bean with the bio-extract solution, gypsum and the bioextractsolution + gypsum produced seed yield of 40.06, 31.41 and 29.55 kg./rai respectively, which were not different among the treatments but the three treatments were different from the chemical method whichproduced seed yield of 89.78 kg./rai. Regarding the yardlong bean seed quality, all four treatments had highquality with no significantly differences among the treatments. The seed dry weight ranged from 128.54-131.90 mg/seed, standard germination 97.00-98.00%, soil emergence 99.50-100%, speed of germination index 33.16-33.33, and conductivity 27.92-28.31 μmho/cm/gm. The seedling dry weights were not significantlydifferent, and ranged from 73.21-76.00 mg/seedling, except for the gypsum treatment which gave a weight of 67.98 mg/seedling.With accelerated aging, the treatment of bio-extract solution + gypsum had thehighest germination rate of 98.00%, which was significantly different from the bio-extract solution and gypsum treatments which had germination rates of 92.50 and 90.50%, respectively, and the chemical methodwhich had a germination rate of 93.50% was not different from other treatments

Seed development and maturation in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

An experiment was conducted at Department of Plant Science, Faculty of Natural Resources, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, during January-April, 2005 to study seed development andmaturation in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). At flowering, the flowers were tagged to indicate the date of flowering. Seeds at 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31 and 34 days after flowering were harvested to investigatepod color and seed quality. The results showed that common bean had 4 developmental stages of pod color: green at 10-22 days after flowering, yellow at 25 days after flowering, grey-yellow at 28 days afterflowering and yellow-white at 31-34 days after flowering. The common bean seeds were capable of germination at 16 days after flowering with seed dry weight of 112.00 mg/seed, moisture content of 68.30% and thestandard germination of 29.50%. The seeds reached physiological maturity 28 days after flowering with maximum dry weight of 218.38 mg/seed, moisture content of 24.44%, standard germination of 99.00%, soilemergence of 98.50%, with highest speed of germination index and seedling growth rate and lowest conductivity. Common bean pods harvested for seed production should be at greyed-yellow color stage with blackcolored seeds