H. Stutzel et al., EFFECTS OF SOWING TECHNIQUE ON YIELD FORMATION OF VICIA-FABA AS AFFECTED BY POPULATION-DENSITY, SOWING DATE AND PLANT TYPE, Journal of Agricultural Science, 122, 1994, pp. 255-264
Field experiments were carried out in which three different sowing tec
hniques: sowing by hand, with a conventional seed drill and with a pre
cision drill, were used to plant an indeterminate and a determinate cu
ltivar of Vicia faba at two sowing dates and at three population densi
ties in 1989 and 1990 in Southern Germany. Delayed sowing reduced fiel
d emergence rates in both years. Hand sowing produced the poorest stan
ds in some instances due to an insufficient sowing depth being achieve
d. Only at late sowing dates did precision drilling give greater field
emergence rates than conventional drilling. During the early stages o
f growth, hand and precision sowing resulted in crops with the greates
t light interception and dry matter production. However, these differe
nces between sowing techniques decreased later on. Lodging was most se
vere in conventionally drilled crops, particularly at high population
density. Thus, when lodging occurred, dry matter and grain yields decr
eased with increasing plant density in conventional sowings, although
they tended to increase in hand-sown and precision-drilled crops. Over
all, apart from this interaction, there was no significant effect of s
owing technique on grain yield. Grain yields and dry matter production
were generally higher in the indeterminate cultivar Herz Freya than i
n the determinate cultivar Ticol, but there were no differential effec
ts of sowing technique.