Effect of Sowing Dates on Performance of Summer Groundnut Cultivars

Aims: To study the effect of different sowing dates on performance of summer groundnut cultivars Study Design: Strip Plot Design Place and Duration of Study: Instructional Farm, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh Methodology: The experiment contained three replication and twelve treatment combinations, where horizontal plot consisted of four different sowing dates viz., D1 : 4th SMW, D2 : 6th SMW, D3 : 8th SMW and D4 : 10th SMW and vertical plot consisted of three different groundnut cultivars viz., V1 : GJG-31, V2 : GG-34 and V3 : GG-37. The study assessed plant population, growth parameters: days to 50 per cent flowering, plant height at 60, 90 DAS and at harvest (cm), number of branches per plant at harvest and dry matter accumulation at 30, 60, 90 DAS and at harvest (g/plant) with yield attribute and yield: number of pods per plant, total number of pegs per plant, pod yield (kg/ha), haulm yield (kg/ha), Shelling percentage (%) and seed index (g). Physiological parameters were also recorded as Crop Growth Rate (CGR) (g m-2 day-1) and Relative Growth Rate (RGR) (g g-1 day-1). Results: The results showed that sowing in 6th SMW resulted in significantly higher plant height at 60, 90 DAS and at harvest, number of branches per plant at harvest and dry matter accumulation at 30, 60, 90 DAS and at harvest. The sowing in 6th SMW also resulted in significantly higher number of pods per plant, total number of pegs per plant, pod yield, haulm yield, CGR and RGR. Among the cultivars, GJG-31 was observed the highest in plant height, dry matter accumulation, pods per plant, total number of pegs per plant, seed index, CGR and RGR. The cultivar GJG-31 also produced the highest pod yield as well as haulm yield. Conclusion: Based on this experiment it can be concluded that most suitable sowing dates reported is 6th SMW. GJG-31 cultivar gave superior result as compared to other cultivars. It can be also concluded that the treatment combination D2V1 viz., sowing in 6th SMW with GJG-31 is best suitable for sowing in South Saurashtra Agro-climatic conditions.