Abstract:
An experiment entitled, “Effect of sowing times and varieties on growth and yield of summer groundnut (
Arachis hypogaea L.)†was conducted during summer 2015 at Post Graduate Research Farm, College of Agriculture, Kolhapur. The objective of experiment is to study the optimum sowing time and varieties of groundnut under summer condition. The experiment was laid out in split plot design
viz. sowing dates(52
nd MW, 2
ndMW, 4
th MW, 6
th MW) as main plot and four varieties (JL-501, JL-24, JL-286 and TAG-24) as sub plot with three replications. The gross and net plot size were 4.50 x 3.00 m
2 and 3.50 x 2.40 m
2respectively. The type of soil of the experimental field was sandy clay loam in texture. It was low in available nitrogen (235.93 kg ha
-1), moderately high in available phosphours (22.80 kg ha
-1), moderate in available potash (253.19 kg ha
-1) and was slightly alkaline in reaction. The growth and development of groundnut measured in terms of plant height, number of functional leaves, number of branches, leaf area and total dry matter per plant was observed to significantly higher when sowing was done on 2
nd MW. The yield contributing character such as number of developed pods plant
-1, weight of pods plant
-1, was significantly higher when crop sown on 2
nd MW. The dry pod yield (35.61 q ha
-1) was also maximum when crop sown on 2
nd MW. Similarly, the yield of kernel (31.01 q ha
-1), oil content in kernel (48.54 %) and oil yield (10.38 q ha
-1) were the highest when the crop was sown on 2
nd MW. Being a bunch type variety, the height of plant was significantly higher in JL-501 while number of functional leaves, leaf area plant
-1, number of branches, dry matter accumulation was higher in variety JL-501 followed by TAG-24. The yield attributing characters like number of pod plant
-1 was maximum in variety JL-501 while it was minimum in JL-24. The weight of 100 kernel was higher in JL-501 (57.55 g), shelling percentage, kernel yield was also higher in variety JL-501. The dry pod yield given by JL-501 (34.84 q ha
-1) was maximum among the varieties JL-24 (29.26 q ha
-1) JL-286 (32.21 q ha
-1) and TAG-24-(33.91 q ha
-1). The dry haulm yield was significantly higher in variety JL-501 (31.21 q ha
-1). Higher oil content (48.67%), protein content (24.57%) and oil yield (10.32 q ha
-1), protein yield (7.35 q ha
-1) was also recorded by JL-501 as compared to other varieties.