A study conducted at the CORPOICA “La Selva” research center in Rionegro, Colombia, examined the impact of systematic variability in bean production on fertilizer experiments. The research, led by Daniel Francisco Jaramillo Jaramillo of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, focused on a second sowing of beans and utilized a randomized complete block design with seven treatments and four replications.
The investigation, documented in a paper published by SciELO, aimed to assess how inherent fluctuations in bean yield might influence the outcomes of variance analyses performed in fertilization trials. Jaramillo Jaramillo, a Professor Titular at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, employed trend analysis and semivariography to evaluate the production variability of two bean varieties: ICA Viboral and CORPOICA 106.
Results indicated a distinct behavioral difference between the two varieties. Statistical analyses revealed a significant effect of the treatments on the production of the ICA Viboral variety. But, the CORPOICA 106 variety did not exhibit spatial variability in production, and no significant treatment effects were observed, even after analyzing residual data from trend analyses. The study, initiated in April 2005 and accepted for publication in November of the same year, highlights the importance of considering inherent production variability when interpreting the results of fertilization experiments.
The research builds on earlier work by Jaramillo Jaramillo, who too investigated the effects of systematic variability in fertilization experiments with beans during a first sowing, as detailed in a publication by Redalyc. The CORPOICA research center, where the study was based, is a key agricultural research institution in Colombia, dedicated to improving crop production and sustainability.
Jaramillo Jaramillo’s work, as outlined in the ResearchGate publication, underscores the need for careful consideration of systematic variability when evaluating the efficacy of different fertilization strategies. The findings suggest that the response to fertilization can vary significantly between bean varieties, and that spatial variability within a field can influence the detection of treatment effects.
