Groundnut arachis hypogaea response to irrigation and sowing time on a deep loamy sand in a subtropical monsoon region
Singh, B.; Sandhu, B.S.; Khera, K.L.; Ajula, T.S.
Field Crops Research 13(4): 355-366
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0378-4290 Accession: 005536588
A 3-year field study was conducted to evaluate the individual and interactive effects of four irrigation schedules viz. 0, 1, 2 and 3 irrigations based on phenological growth stages and two times of sowing, viz. June and July, on groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) grown on a deep, well drained, loamy sand in northwest India. The crop sown around June 20 with a pre-sowing irrigation made greater use of the profile-stored water and seasonal rain, to produce, on average, 600 kg ha-1 (34%) higher pod yield than the traditional practice of sowing the crop in July with the onset of monsoon rain. The yield advantage of the June over the July sowing was greater in the unirrigated crop (82%) than the crop irrigated once at pegging (19%) or twice at pegging the pod formation (40%). Compared with no irrigation, one irrigation at the pegging stage and two irrigations at pegging and pod formation stages resulted in mean pod yield increases of 389 (25%) and 888 (59%) kg ha-1, respectively. The third irrigation at flowering produced no additional benefit. For comparable yields, the June sowing of the crop required 1-2 irrigations fewer than the July sowing. The results show that the crucial timing for a single irrigation was pod formation in the June-sown crop and pegging in the July-sown crop.