A long‐term P experiment is currently being conducted on a Typic Tropudult in Panama to study plant growth and yield response of a sequence of crops, with differential external P requirements, to initial applications of fertilizer P at rates of 0, 25, 50, 100 and 200 kg P/ha. The response of field beans (Phaseolus vulgarisL.). the first crop in this sequence, to P fertilization is reported in this paper.