Nitrogen was the element that limited the yield of dry beans. In the plots with P alone, the responses to the side-placed organic materials were very good and increased in the order: sugar cane thrash, Melinis minutiflora hay, Glycine javanica hay, coffee tree leaves, coffee fruit hulls and peanut hulls. In the NP plots, the yields were generally higher but only peanut hulls, M. minutiflora hay and the double dose of coffee tree leaves induced small increases.