Influence of varieties and sowing dates on growth and yield of kharif groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

A field experiment was conducted to study the Influence of varieties and sowing dates on growth and yield of kharif groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) at Anand Agricultue University, Anand, during kharif season of 2019 and 2020. The treatments consisted of three dates of sowing viz; first date of sowing - onset of monsoon, second date of sowing - 10 days after onset of monsoon and third date of sowing - 20 days after onset of monsoon with three varieties viz; GG 20, GJG 34 and TAG 37A. The experiment was replicated four times in randomized block design (factorial). Results showed that first date of sowing (onset of monsoon) proved significantly superior to other dates of sowing in respect of growth and yield characters. Significantly high pod yield (2176 kg ha-1 and 1862 kg ha-1) was recorded during 2019 and 2020 under first date of sowing, respectively which was statistically at par with second date of sowing (1937 kg ha-1 and 1592 kg ha-1) and significantly higher than the third date of sowing (1614 kg ha-1 and 1369 kg ha-1). In case of crop sown at onset of monsoon, rainfall, soil moisture and mean temperature favorable during crop growing period showed significantly higher pod yield. Among the varieties, significantly higher pod yield (2043 and 1701 kg ha-1) was recorded under GG 20 over other varieties GJG 34 and TAG 3A during both the years. Hence, variety GG 20 was the promising ones in terms of growth and yield in middle Gujarat agro climatic zone. On an average, onset of monsoon (early sowing) gave 13.4% higher pod yield than 10 days after onset of monsoon sowing. GG 20 was recorded 6.8 % higher pod yield as compared to the GJG 34.