Effect of Irrigation Level and Sowing Date on Yield of Field Bean in Saline Soils of Konkan Region of Maharashtra

A field experiment was conducted during consecutive Rabi seasons of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 in coastal saline soils at Khar Land Research Station, Panvel, Maharashtra, India to study the effect of different sowing dates and irrigation levels on the production potential of field bean. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design (FRBD) with four replications, comprising three dates of sowing viz., immediately after harvest of paddy (D₁), 10 days after harvest of paddy (D₂), and 20 days after harvest of paddy (D₃); and three irrigation levels viz., no irrigation (I₀), one irrigation at flowering (I₁), and one irrigation each at flowering and at pod formation (I₂). The results showed that the treatment D₁ recorded significantly higher seed yield of field bean (915 kg.ha^-1) over D₂(713 kg.ha^-1) and D₃(605 kg.ha^-1). Among the irrigation levels, treatment I₁ resulted in significantly higher seed yield of field bean (856 kg.ha^-1) over I₂ (726 kg.ha^-1) and I₀ (650 kg.ha^-1). The treatment combination I₁D₁ produced significantly higher seed yield of field bean (1065 kg.ha^-1) with higher net realization (1,06,500 .ha^-1), net income (55,222 .ha^-1) and benefit cost ratio (2.08). Both sowing date and irrigation level played important role in management of root zone soil moisture and soil salinity which influenced the seed yield. Sowing of field bean immediately after the harvest of paddy and providing one irrigation at the time of flowering is recommended to obtain better yield and returns from the field beans cultivated in Konkan region of Maharashtra.