Effect of dates of sowing on growth and yield of groundnut crop.

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of dates of sowing on growth and yield of groundnut crop during the summer season taking five promising varieties of the region. Results revealed that the number of pods per plant, pod yield, kernel yield and leaf area index had significantly varied due to variation in dates of sowing. The maximum number of pods per plant and pod yield obtained when the crop was sown on 20 January. The kernel yield and leaf area index were maximum when the crop was sown on 5 February ; maximum leaf area index was recorded on 65 DAE which was significantly higher in comparison to 20 January or 20 February sown crop. The study suggests that under sub-tropical humid climate it is better to sow the groundnut crop within the first week of February.