Impact of different sowing time and plant spacing on yield of winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus L.) in Konkan region

Introduction

Winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus L.) is a protein-rich, underutilized tropical leguminous vegetable belonging to the family Fabaceae (Leguminosae) and subfamily Papilionoideae. It is commonly known as Goa bean, four-angled bean or four-cornered bean and has a chromosome number of 2n = 18 or 22 (Saran et al., 2024) [1] . It is believed to have originated in Papua New Guinea and Southeast Asia. Among Psophocarpus species, P. tetragonolobus is the most widely cultivated and economically important species. Owing to its nutritional value and adaptability, it is cultivated in several tropical and subtropical regions, particularly under warm and humid conditions (Singh et al., 2021) [2] . Botanically, winged bean is a herbaceous perennial climber, though it is usually grown as an annual crop under cultivation. It is a vigorous climbing legume with green to purple stems and trifoliate leaves. Its axillary racemes bear 4-10 flowers, varying from white to deep purple. The pods are characteristically four-angled with frilled wings, measuring about 15-22 cm long and 2-3 cm wide, and contain approximately 5-20 seeds (Jene et al., 2018) [3] . Winged bean possesses several properties such as anti-fungal, antibacterial, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory and useful to treat ulcer (Bassal et al., 2020) [4] . Winged bean is a nutritionally rich legume containing appreciable amounts of protein, lipids, vitamins and essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, copper and manganese. Its high protein and oil content, comparable to soybean, makes it a promising crop for nutritional security and diversified vegetable production (Tiwari et al., 2013) [5] . Therefore, the present investigation entitled "Impact of sowing time and plant spacing on yield of winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus L.) in Konkan region" was undertaken to identify the most suitable sowing time and optimum plant spacing for enhancing yield attributes and green pod yield of winged bean under Konkan conditions.

Materials and methods

The present investigation was conducted during the Kharif-Rabi seasons of 2025-26 at the Vegetable Research Field, Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Dapoli, Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, District Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India. The experiment was carried out using a Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications. The experiment comprised two factors, viz., sowing time (P) and plant spacing (S). Factor A consisted of three sowing times: T 1 -First fortnight of August, T 2 -First fortnight of September and T 3 -First fortnight of October. Factor B consisted of three plant spacings: S 1 -50 × 50 cm, S 2 -50 × 75 cm and S 3 -50 × 100 cm. Thus, a total of nine treatment combinations were evaluated. The experimental field covered an area of 27 × 32 m, with an individual plot size of 8 × 1 m. The crop received vermicompost @ 5 t ha -1 along with 50 kg N, 80 kg P 2 O 5 and 50 kg K 2 O ha -1 . The entire quantity of vermicompost and phosphorus was incorporated into the soil during final land preparation. Nitrogen and the remaining potassium were applied as a top dressing approximately one month after sowing. Urea, single super phosphate (SSP) and muriate of potash (MOP) were used as the respective sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Irrigation and other essential intercultural operations were carried out at regular intervals or whenever required to ensure proper crop growth. The data obtained from the experiment were subjected to statistical analysis using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) appropriate for Factorial Randomized Block Design. The significance of differences among the treatment means was tested according to the procedure described by Panse and Sukhatme (1985).

Results and discussion

Effect of sowing time

Sowing time had significantly influenced on yield and yield attributing characters. The minimum days to 1 st harvest was recorded in T 2 (70.93), whereas the maximum was recorded in T 3 (76.50). Similar results were reported by Sermenali et al. (2011) [6] in broccoli. The maximum pod length was recorded under T 1 (14.29 cm) while minimum was observed in T 3 (13.19 cm). Early sowing increases the pod length due to the favourable growing conditions during the pod development stage including sufficient soil moisture and suitable temperature. Similar results were reported by Choudhary et al. (2020) [7] in Indian bean and Haque et al. (2020) [8] in dwarf hyacinth bean, Ahamad et al. (2021) [9] in mungbean and Khushboo et al. (

. The highest pod girth was observed under the T 1 treatment (3.98 cm), while the lowest pod girth was recorded in T 3 (3.66 cm). Early sowing promoted greater pod girth due to favourable environmental conditions, which enhanced vegetative growth, nutrient uptake and pod development. Similar results were also reported by Singh et al. (2015) [11] in tomato. The highest pod weight (7.88 g) was recorded in T 1 (First fortnight of August), while the lowest was observed in T 3 (7.39 g). The higher pod weight under early sowing may be due to favourable conditions that enhanced nutrient uptake, pod retention and photosynthate accumulation during pod development. Similar findings have been reported by Singh et al. (2015) [11] in tomato and Hossain et al. (2014) [12] in tomato. The maximum number of pickings (19.22), harvesting span (82.67 days) was recorded under the early sowing treatment T 1 , while the minimum number of pickings (15.87), harvesting span (77.84 days) was observed under the late sowing treatment T 3 . The green pod yield per vine was highest in T 1 (488.38 g vine -1 ) which was significantly superior among other treatments, while the lowest was observed in T 3 (437.90 g). Early sowing favoured vegetative growth and pod development, resulting in higher green pod yield per plant due to better pod quality, more pickings and a longer harvesting span. Similar observations were reported by Singh et al. (2015) [11] in tomato, Haque et al. (2020) [8] in dwarf hyacinth bean and Pravina et al. (2023) [13] in vegetable cowpea. The maximum (11.14 kg plot -1 ) green pod yield per plot was observed in T 1 (First fortnight of August), while the minimum (7.70 kg plot -1 ) was observed in T 3 (First fortnight of October). Higher yield under early sowing may be attributed to favourable conditions that promoted vegetative growth, extended harvesting and increased pickings, whereas late sowing exposed the crop to adverse conditions, reducing pod development and yield. Similar results were obtained by Singh et al. (2015) [11] in tomato and Haque et al. (2020) [8] in dwarf hyacinth bean.

August sowing (T 1 ) produced the highest green pod yield (139.57 q ha -1

), whereas the minimum green pod yield was recorded in T 3 (128.92 q ha -1 ). Higher green pod yield under early sowing may be attributed to favourable weather conditions that enhanced plant growth, increased pickings and extended the harvesting period. Late sowing exposed the crop to unfavourable conditions during flowering and pod development, resulting in poor pod set and reduced yield. Similar trends have also been reported by Sermenli et al. (2011) [6] in broccoli, Rajani et al. (2014) [14] in vegetable pea, Haque et al. (2020) [8] in dwarf hyacinth bean, Choudhary et al. (2020) [7] in Indian bean and Ahmed et al. (2023) [15] in green gram.

Effect of spacing

The earliest first harvest (71.98 days) was observed under treatment S 3 (50 × 100 cm) In contrast, treatment S 2 (50 x 75 cm) required the longest time to reach the first harvest (74.29 days). The longest pods were recorded under S 3 (14.09 cm), which was significantly superior to S 1 (13.43 cm) and S 2 (13.86 cm). The superior pod growth under wider spacing may be attributed to reduced competition for light, water and nutrients, promoting better root development, canopy expansion, photosynthesis and assimilate translocation. Comparable observations have also been reported by Shashi et al. (2015) [16] in Indian bean, Manjesh et al. (2019) [17] in yardlong bean and Roy et al. (2022) [18] in yardlong bean. The maximum pod girth was recorded under S 3 (4.14 cm), whereas the minimum was observed under S 1 (3.56 cm). The higher pod girth under wider spacing may be attributed to reduced resource competition, better canopy development and efficient assimilate translocation, promoting pod growth. Similar results were obtained by Manjesh et al. (2019) [17] in yardlong bean. The highest mean pod weight (8.00 g) was recorded in S 3 and lowest in S 1 (7.20 g). The wider spacing reduced the interplant competition and increases the pod weight. Similar observations have been documented by Mozumder et al. (2003) [19] in bush bean and Haque et al. (2020) [8] in dwarf hyacinth bean. The number of pickings was maximum in S 1 (17.71) which was followed by S 2 (17.04) and minimum was recorded in S 3 (16.79). The higher number of pickings under closer spacing may be attributed to greater plant population and cumulative pod production per unit area, despite increased inter-plant competition. A significantly longer harvesting span (81.09 days) was observed in S 1 which was statistically at par with S 2 (79.89 days). However, S 3 recorded the shortest harvesting span (78.47 days). The longer harvesting span under closer spacing may be attributed to higher plant population, which favoured continuous flowering and successive pod development, thereby extending the harvest period. The maximum green pod yield per vine was recorded under the S 3 treatment (489.30 g vine -1 ), whereas the minimum yield was observed in the S 1 treatment (444.71 g vine -1 ). Higher green pod yield per plant under wider spacing may be attributed to reduced inter-plant competition and improved resource utilization, enhancing photosynthesis and pod production. Similar outcomes were obtained by Manjesh et al. (2019) [17] in yardlong bean, Pravina et al. (2023) [13] in vegetable cowpea and Thakur et al. (2025) [20] in garden pea. The highest green pod yield per plot was recorded in S 1 (11.72 kg plot -1 ) which was significantly superior than other treatments, while the minimum was observed in S 3 (7.78 kg plot -1 ). Higher yield per plot under closer spacing may be attributed to greater plant population per unit area, which compensates for increased inter-plant competition. Similar observations were reported by Haque et al. (2020) [8] in dwarf hyacinth bean, Painginker et al. (2021) [21] in yard long bean, Pravina et al. (2024) in vegetable cowpea. The maximum green pod yield per hectare was observed in S 1 (177.33 q ha -1

), whereas the lowest yield was noted in S 3 (103.21 q ha -1 ). Higher green pod yield per hectare under closer spacing was attributed to greater plant population per unit area. Similar results were obtained by result recorded by Mozumder et al. (2003) [19] in bush bean, Painginker et al. (2021) [21] in yard long bean, Pravina et al. (2024) in vegetable cowpea.

Interaction effect

The interaction between sowing time and plant spacing significantly affected the yield and yield attributing characters. Among the treatment combinations, T 2 S 3 (70.03 days) recorded the earliest first harvest followed by T 2 S 2 (71.10 days), whereas T 3 S 1 (74.00 days) exhibited the longest duration to first harvest. the maximum pod length (14.41 cm) was recorded under T 1 S 3 which was at par with T 1 S 2 (14.40 cm), T 2 S 3 (14.19 cm) and T 1 S 1 (14.07 cm). Whereas the minimum pod length (12.82 cm) was observed in T 3 S 1 . The maximum pod girth (4.43 cm) and pod weight (8.20 g) was observed in treatment T 1 S 3 . However, the minimum pod girth (3.49 cm) and pod weight (6.70 g) was recorded in treatment T 3 S 1. Among the treatment combinations, T 1 S 1 recorded the highest number of pickings (20.10), followed by T 1 S 2 (18.97). In contrast, the lowest number of pickings was observed under the T 3 S 3 treatment (15.63). T 1 S 1 recorded the longest harvesting span (85.20 days), which was followed by T 1 S 2 (82.63 days) and T 1 S 3 (80.17 days). Conversely, the shortest harvesting span (76.93 days) was observed under the T 3 S 3 treatment combination. The highest green pod yield per vine was observed in T 1 S 3 (521.83 g) followed by T 2 S 3 (498.23 g). The lowest was reported in T 3 S 1 (419.80 g). The maximum green pod yield per plot was recorded in the T 1 S 1 treatment (14.02 kg) which was followed by T 2 S 1 treatment (12.23 kg). In contrast, the minimum was obtained from the T 3 S 3 treatment, with a yield of 6.42 kg. The maximum yield was achieved with the T 1 S 1 treatment combination (184.21 q ha -1

), which was followed by T 2 S 1 (179.85 q ha -1

), whereas the minimum yield was recorded in T 3 S 3 (99.89 q ha -1 ). The combine effect of earliest sowing with closer spacing gives the highest yield in winged bean. Early sowing along with closer spacing provided a favourable growing environment for the crop by promoting better utilization of available resources. The reduced spacing increased the plant population per unit area, which enhanced light interception and resource utilization efficiency, whereas timely sowing allowed the crop to benefit from suitable climatic conditions during different growth stages.

Conclusion

The study concluded that optimum sowing time and plant spacing are essential for enhancing green pod yield and productivity in winged bean. The closer spacing resulted in higher yield per unit area due to greater plant population, while the favourable sowing time promoted better crop growth and pod development. Hence, the treatment combination of First fortnight of August at 50 x 50 cm (T 1 S 1 ) can be recommended for achieving higher green pod yield of winged bean in the Konkan region.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementThe authors sincerely thank the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Dapoli, Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Maharashtra, India, for providing the facilities and support for this study. The authors also thank Dr. Pradnya S. Gudadhe for her valuable guidance in manuscript preparation.

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23. Spacing: S1 -50 x 50 cm, S2 -50 x 75 cm, S3 -50 × 100 cm. How to cite this article: Borkar A, Gudadhe P, Parulekar Y, Gajbhiye R, Mahadik S, Patil R. Impact of different sowing time and plant spacing on yield of winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus L.) in Konkan region. International Journal of Research in Agronomy. 2026;9(9):1430-1433. doi: https://www.d oi.org/10.33545/2618060X.2026.v9.i9s.6714