Key Points:
- This Arable Update reports on several agronomic trials undertaken as part of a project evaluating grain legumes for animal feeds.
- There were four trials in the 2006/07 season which evaluated several faba bean cultivars under two sowing rates and with or without insecticides or fungicides.
- Chocolate spot and rust were the major diseases with aphids being present in large numbers only at Bulls. Disco was the most susceptible cultivar to chocolate spot and was susceptible to other diseases.
- Cultivars varied in susceptibility to disease and no cultivar had good resistance to the four diseases assessed.
- Yields were generally higher under the higher plant populations and where fungicides and insecticides were applied.