The meristems of Vicia faba bean roots were irradiated at different depths in water in a 250 GeV/c positive hadron beam from the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). The growth during the 10 days following irradiation was determined and compared with results obtained from 60Co gamma-ray exposures. The data indicate a Relative Biological Efficiency (r.b.e.) near to one, independent of the contribution of secondaries to the dose. However, some anomalies in the radiation response of the irradiated beans were noted.