Effect of Different Dates of Sowing on Growth, Yield Attributes and Yield of Various Cultivars of Kharif Blackgram (Vigna mungo L.) under Amritsar Conditions

Abstract

Background: Among pulses, blackgram is one of most important crop. Blackgram has originated from Indian sub-continent where it has been cultivated from ancient times and standout amongst most expensive pulse crop in India. Being observed, the productivity of blackgram is low in India as well as in Punjab due to lack of knowledge regarding various agronomic implementations, among them, time of sowing and selection of suitable cultivar are one of the major limiting factors in production, especially during kharif season. Methods: The research was carried out to investigate the effect of different dates of sowing on growth, yield attributes and yield of various cultivars of kharif blackgram (Vigna mungo L.) during kharif season 2019 at Student’s Research Farm, Department of Agriculture, Khalsa College, Amritsar. The experiment was laid-out in split-plot design, consisting of four dates of sowing (8th July, 18th July, 28th July and 8th August) as main-plot treatments and three cultivars (Mash114, Mash 338 and KUG 479) as sub-plot treatments, with four replications. Result: Among the sowing dates, the higher seed yield (10.27 q/ha) of blackgram was recorded when crop was raised on 8th July, which was significantly 12.6%, 20.3% and 30.5% higher than 18th July, 28th July and 8th August sown crop respectively. Among blackgram cultivars, the higher seed yield was observed in Mash 114 (10.19 q/ha) which was significantly 14% and 32% superior over Mash 338 and KUG 479 respectively. The sowing dates and cultivars had significant effect on the pods/plant, seeds/pod and seed weight/plant. The significantly higher number of pods/plant (24.3), seeds/pod (6.8) and seed weight/plant (3.2 g) were obtained with 8th July sown crop as compared to 28th July and 8th August sown crop. Among the cultivars, the significantly higher number of pods/plant (23.6), seeds/pod (6.4) and seed weight/plant (3.2 g) were recorded with Mash 114. The growth parameters viz. Plant height, nodules/plant, leaf area index and dry matter accumulation, were shown decreased trend by 29.2%, 19.13%, 12.2% and 25.4% respectively with the delay in sowing from 8th July to 8th August.