Heat Unit and Heat Use Efficiency under Different Growing Environments of Mustard Crop (Brassica juncea L.)

A field experiment was conducted at Agro-meteorological Research Farm, A.N.D. University of Agriculture & Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, India during 2019-20. The experiment was conducted with Factorial Randomized Complete Block Design and replicated four times with nine treatment combinations consisting of three different sowing times D1 (31st October) (23.5oC), D2 (10th November) (23oC), and D3 (20th November) (21oC) and three varieties V1 (Bio-902), V2 (NDR-8501) and V3 (Varuna). Results showed that higher growth and yield was observed when crop was sown on 31st October than other sowing times. Among the varieties Varuna gave highest growth and maximum yield as compared to other varieties due to fulfillment of congenial Heat unit/GDD, HUE. Maximum heat use efficiency and heat unit requirement from sowing to maturity was obtained when the crop was sown on 31st October while minimum heat use efficiency was obtained when the crop was sown on 20th November. Hence it can be concluded that the best sowing date of mustard is on 31st October in the early sowing. This study may help to select suitable sowing time under climatic condition of eastern Uttar Pradesh.