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Book of Abstracts First Legume Society Conference 2013: A Legume Odyssey Novi Sad, Serbia, 9-11 May 2013
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Will row distance influence yield of dry yellow peas (Pisum sativa) and faba beans (Vicia
faba) in a North European cropping system?
Fredrik Fogelberg
JTI – Swedish Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Uppsala, Sweden
In Scandinavia, the most common row distance in grain, oilseed rape and legumes is 12 (also
referred to as 12.5) cm. There is a strong tradition that this row distance is the most optimal for
the majority of crops. This strong belief has made it difficult to introduce and use seeding
technology based on other row distances such as 25 cm, a quite common row distance in grain
and legume cropping in Russia, Canada and USA. Seeding systems using 25 cm are often used in
dryer geographical areas or in extensive cropping where you expect lower yields (1-4 MT ha -1 )
compared to more intensively farmed areas such as Northern Europe, with yields up to 8-10 MT
ha -1 . Sweden is today dominated by seeding machines using 12 (12.5) cm row distance. In an
ongoing project 2011-2013, we have compared two seeding systems (Väderstad Rapid; 12.5 cm
and System Cameleon by Gothia Redskap; 25 cm) and their influence on yield of dry yellow peas
(Pisum sativa) and faba beans (Vicia faba). Yield of faba bean was not affected by row distance
neither in 2011 nor in 2012. The yield were higher in 2012 (about 4.5 MT ha -1 ) than in 2011
(about 3 MT ha -1 ). For yellow pea the results are less clear. The 12.5 cm system resulted in
significantly higher yield in 2011 compared to the 25 cm system, while in 2012 the 25 cm system
was significantly better than the 12.5 cm system. It should be noted that 2012 was a wetter and
generally colder season than in 2011. We conclude that faba beans can be cropped with good
results regardless of row distance. For pea, soil compaction by the heavier 12.5 cm seeding
machine might be a factor that explains the lower yield in 2012.
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