Influence of plant spacing and deblossoming on agromorphological and physiological traits of zombi pea

Zombi pea is an underexploited legume vegetable with edible tubers and pods and a climate resilient crop. It carries genes that make it resilient to biotic and abiotic stressors, and have high protein content. Despite its immense potential, zombi pea remains underutilized owing to lack of breeding efforts, less information on agronomic practices, and low awareness among researchers and farmers. Hence, the current study was prudently conducted to elucidate the dynamics of growth, yield, and physiology of zombi pea under variable spacings and deblossoming conditions. The experiment was conducted in split-plot design with three replications comprising a total of 8 sets of treatment combinations. The treatments included 4 variable spacings (S1: 45 cm × 15 cm, S2: 45 cm × 30 cm, S3: 60 cm × 15 cm, S4: 60 cm × 30 cm) with or without deblossoming. Data revealed that the morphological traits such as leaf and stem weight, height of plant, tuber numbers per plant (2.6), tuber weight (322.39 g), length of tubers (16.17 cm), tuber diameter (16.08 cm), and tuber yield/plant (121.85 g) were significantly affected by wider spacing (S4). The results show that the highest values for RGR (relative growth rate) and NAR (net assimilation rate) were recorded at the 45 × 30 cm spacing (S2), but LAI (leaf area index) was highest at the 60 × 30 cm spacing (S4).. The close spacing (S1) is significantly ideal to get the highest total green pod yield (3.46 q/ha), total tuber yield (150.85 q/ha), and improvement in crop growth parameters. The present investigation opens the door to improve the potential of zombi pea by manipulating agronomic and reproductive practices, which in turn will enhance the food and nutritional security.