Yield and profitability of rabi groundnut as influenced by sowing windows in South Eastern Ghat Zone of Odisha

Introduction

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is a leguminous oilseed crop and its inclusion in cropping system ensures food security as well as environmental, economic and health benefits [1] . Groundnut is a good source of edible oil (43-55%) and protein (25-28%) [2] . Groundnut is one of the most important oilseed crop grown in Odisha and covered an area of 204.82 thousand ha with production and productivity of 387.89 thousand tones and 1894 kg/ha, respectively. Rabi season contributes about 66.77% of the total groundnut area in Odisha [3] . South Eastern Ghat Zone of Odisha mainly comprising of Malkangiri district, and it has been considered as a potential region of groundnut. In Malkangiri district, groundnut is cultivated in an area of 15.78 thousand ha with production of 31.17 thousand tones in 2019-20 [3] . The performance of a crop in respect to growth and yield is influenced by various factors but climate stands out as one of most critical determinant [4] . Among the climatic factors, solar radiation, temperature, moisture, humidity and precipitation plays important role in crop production [4,5] . Groundnut is a crop that needs accurate environmental conditions to grow and develop properly, and its reaction to sowing dates might vary depending on the local climate, soil type and other factors. The sowing date is one of the most essential factors that influence growth and yield of a crop.

Optimum sowing time is an important determinant of crop yield because different sowing time provides different environmental conditions within the same location for growth and development of crop. Keeping this in view, the present experiment was framed to assess the yield and profitability of rabi groundnut under different sowing dates in South Eastern Ghat Zone of Odisha.

Materials and Methods

The experiment was carried out at the research farm of Regional Research and Technology Transfer Sub-Station (OUAT), Malkangiri, Odisha during rabi season of 2020-21 to 2022-23. Initial basic chemical properties of the surface soil (0-15 cm) were pH of 5.5, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as 208.1, 15.8 and 160.7 kg ha -1 , respectively. The soil texture of the experimental site was sandy loam. Different weather data during experimentation are shown in Table 1. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with eight treatments as dates of sowing (1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , 4 th week of December, 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th week of January) and each treatment was replicated thrice. Different cultural operations upto the harvest of groundnut (var. Dharani) was followed uniformly as per recommended package of practices to get a healthy crop. Observations on plant height (cm), number of branches plant -1 , number of pods plant -1 , number of kernels pods -1 , 100 kernels weight (g), pod yield (kg ha -1 ) were recorded at harvest. Economic parameters such as net return and benefit cost ratio were calculated by considering all inputs and outputs as per local situation. The data were statistically analyzed by standard analysis of variance technique for randomized complete block design as suggested by Gomez and Gomez [6] , and significant differences between the treatments were compared with the critical difference at ±5% probability level.

Results and Discussion

Growth attributes

Growth attributes of groundnut viz. plant height and no. of branches plant -1 at harvest were significantly influenced by different dates of sowing during all three years of study (Table 2). The tallest plant stature (55.33 cm) was recorded in groundnut crop sown in 2 nd week of December during 1 st year and in 1 st week of December during 2 nd (54.67 cm) and 3 rd year (54.97 cm) of experiment. Both 1 st and 2 nd week of December sown crop are statistically at par for plant height during all three years as well as for pooled analysis. Based on pooled analysis, groundnut sown in 1 st week of December gave taller plant stature (54.59 cm) followed by crop sown in 2 nd week of December (54.57 cm). Crop sown in 2 nd week of January recorded small plant stature of 50.13 cm. Significantly highest no. of branches plant -1 was observed in the crop sown in 1 st week of December (6.33, 6.20 and 6.20) followed by crop sown in 2 nd week of December (6.27, 6.07 and 6.00) and lowest with crop sown in 4 th week of January (4.93, 4.87 and 4.91). Same trend was also followed for pooled analysis. In respect to years and pooled analysis 1 st two dates of sowing was statistically at par for number of branches. These results were supported by the findings of Ashwini et al. [5] and Kumar et al. [7] , who reported significant effect of different sowing dates on growth attributes of groundnut sown on different dates.

Yield attributes and yield

Among the yield attributes, number of pods plant -1 was significantly varied by different dates of sowing (Table 3). Number of pods plant -1 was found to vary between 14.07 -19.07 during 1 st year, 14.00 -18.93 during 2 nd year and 14.13 -18.87 during 3 rd year of experiment. Based on pooled analysis, significantly highest numbers of pods plant -1 (18.96) was recorded when groundnut sown in 1 st week of December followed by 2 nd week of December (18.29) and groundnut sown in 4 th week of January recorded least value (14.07). Same trends were also followed for number of kernels pod -1 (Table 3) and highest number of kernels pod -1 of 2.00 was recorded when groundnut sown in 1 st and 2 nd week of December followed by 3 rd week of December (1.99). First two date of sowing was statistically at par for number of pods plant -1 and number of kernels pod -1 . In case of 100 kernels weight there was no statistical variation observed in respect to years and pooled analysis (Table 4). However, highest 100 kernels weight (30.05 g) obtained with crop sown in 1 st week of December followed by 2 nd week of December (30.04 g) and groundnut sown in 4 th week of January recorded least value (29.10 g). Irrespective of years and pooled analysis, pod yield of groundnut was significantly influenced by different dates of sowing (Table 4). Highest pod yield of 2046, 2036 and 2015 kg ha -1 obtained when sown in 1 st week of December followed by 2026, 2029 and 1989 kg ha -1 when sown in 2 nd week of December during 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd year, respectively. Based on pooled analysis, significantly highest pod yield obtained with groundnut sown in 1 st week of December (2032 kg ha -1 ) followed by crop sown in 2 nd week of December (2015 kg ha -1 ). Groundnut sown on 4 th week of January recorded lowest pod yield (1470 kg ha -1 ). First two date of sowing was statistically at par for pod yield of groundnut. The increased pod yield was due to higher growth and yield attributing characters obtained with first two dates of sowing. Superior growth and yield attributing characters responsible for higher pod yield of groundnut was also reported in some others study [5,8,9] .

Economics

Based on mean data of three years, among the different sowing dates of groundnut highest net return (Rs. 53459 ha -1 ) and B: C ratio (1.90) was obtained when crop sown in 1 st week of December followed by 2 nd week of December (Net return-Rs. 52471 ha -1 ; B: C ratio-1.88) and groundnut sown in 4 th week of January recorded least economic return (Net return-Rs. 22150 ha -1 ; B: C ratio-1.37). Groundnut in first two dates of sowing showed almost similar economic return (Fig. 1). Higher net returns and B:C ratio might be due to higher productivity.

Conclusion

The present study revealed that sowing of rabi groundnut should be done early in 1 st week of December to 2 nd week of December for obtaining high yield and economic return in the experimental region.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementThe authors are thankful to the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar for providing financial support and necessary facilities to conduct this experiment.

References

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