Assessment of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Varieties under Various Sowing Windows for Crop Growth, Development and Yield in Western Maharashtra, India

The present experiment was carried out at Department of Agricultural Meteorology Farm, Centre of Advanced Faculty Training, College of Agriculture, Pune, MPKV, Rahuri for assessment of different groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) varieties for crop growth, development and yields under various sowing windows in Western Maharashtra Plain Zone during the Kharif season of 2017 and 2018. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. The treatment comprised of four varieties viz., V1: JL-501, V2: RHRG-6083 (Phule Unnati), V3: TAG-24 and V4: JL-776 (Phule Bharati) as main plot and four sowing windows viz., S1: 25th MW, S2: 26th MW, S­3: 27th MW and S4: 28th MW as sub plot treatments. From the result of the study, all the growth attributes were increased with the advancement in age of the groundnut crop. Plant height 35.27 and 33.34 cm, total number branches 11.34 and 10.55, total dry matter accumulation plant-1 34.36 and 32.11 g during both the years of experiment, which were found significantly higher in variety JL-776 over RHRG-6083, JL-501 and TAG-24. Among all the sowing windows 26th MW (S2) recorded the highest growth attributes viz., plant height (33.67 and 31.94 cm), total number of branches plant-1 (11.34 and 10.58 g) and total dry matter accumulation plant-1 (34.75 and 32.78 g) during both year of experiment. 26th MW sowing window was at par with the 27th MW sowing window with all growth attributes. Pod yield (26.59 and 28.14 q ha-1) and haulm yield (39.61 and 36.7 q ha-1) were significantly higher in variety in JL-776 followed by RHRG-6083, JL-501 and TAG-24. Pod yield (27.25 and 28.84 q ha-1) and haulm yield (40.60 and 37.61 q ha-1) was higher in 26th MW sowing window, which were at par with 27th MW sowing window during both the year.