Fertilization and liming to the irrigated common bean crop on a "cerrado" soil

Three experiments were carried out to study the effect of different rates o f lime, levels of basal chemical fertilizers and split N applications on co mmon bean. The first experiment studied the response of bean to six rates o f lime (0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 ton ha(-1)). In the second experiment the res ponse of five bean cultivars/lines (Apore, Carioca, Novo Jalo, MA534657, an d MA534666-2) to three rates of basal fertilizer treatments (200, 400 and 6 00 kg ha(-1) of 4-30-16 complex fertilizer) plus N side dressing of 30 kg h a(-1) at 25 days after germination was studied. The third experiment studie d the effect of different rates of N fertilization (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 k g ha(-1)) applied in one, Two, three, and six split applications at ten day s interval, from 20 to 70 days after germination. Liming increased the abso rption of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and Cu and bean yield up to 37%. Apore cultivar w as the most productive and the most responsive to fertilization. Maximum yi eld of cultivars/lines was obtained with 400 kg ha(-1) of fertilizer plus 3 0 kg ha(-1) of N, except for Carioca cultivar. In the third experiment the bean yield increased by N fertilization up to 120 kg ha(-1) and the highest yield was 3,170 kg ha(-1). The number of split N in side dressing applicat ions did not affect bean yield.