Effects of Tin Mine Tailings on the Growth and Development of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Jos, Nigeria

Abstract

Aims: To study the effects of mine tailings on the growth and yield of two genotypes of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Study Design: The experiment was laid in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four treatments, two blocks and each block was replicated three times. Place and Duration of Study: Botanical Garden, Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology University of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria during the rainy season in a field experiment in 2014. Methodology: The mine tailings combinations include four different additions mine tailings soil {(T0) 0 kg as control, (T1) 2 kg, (T2) 3 kg, (T3) 4 kg} and the respective mine tailings soils were added to 6.3 kg of normal soil. Two common bean accessions were used (Cranberry-G1 and Pinto G2), which gave the total of eight treatment combinations (T0G1, T0G2, T1G1, T1G2, T2G1, T2G2, T3G1, T3G2). Results: The control recorded significant higher mean plant height (cm), number of leaves and number of trifoliate leaves, number of pods and number of seeds per pod in both genotypes for all