Effect of Different Cultural Treatments on Branching and Yield of Groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.)

Introduction

Groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) is the sixth most important oilseed crop grown globally. It contains 26-28% protein and 48-50% oil and is a rich source of vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber.

Groundnut is grown on 27.2 million ha worldwide with a total production and productivity of 47 million mt and 1.7 mt/ha according to FAOSTAT 2020.

Cultivated groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) belongs to genus Arachis in subtribe Stylosanthinae of tribe Aeschynomenea of family Leguminosae. Groundnut oil is composed of mixed glycerides and contains a high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids, in particular, oleic (50-65%) and linoleic (18-30%) [1]. Groundnut is also known as earthnuts, Peanuts, jack nuts, pinders, manila nuts, goobers, goober peas, pindars, and monkey nuts; the last one is often used to mean the entire pod [2]. The cultural practice followed during the crop period is a useful factor for improving yield in groundnut.

The overarching goal was to derive integrated crop management recommendations for enhancing groundnut production globally given its nutritional and commercial significance across agricultural economies.

Materials and Methods

The present investigation entitled “Effects of different cultural treatments on branching and yield of groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) was carried during Kharif season 2019 at the Agronomy farm of the College of Agriculture, Hassan, Karnataka, India. The best variety of groundnut was selected for this experiment. The experiment was laid out in randomized completely block design with five treatments and four replications in digged land upto 20cm depth beds having 1m×1m area and 0.5m in between the beds with spacing: 30cm×10cm. The five different treatment plots were nipping, passing of empty drums, withholding of irrigation, nipping without irrigation and following usually recommended practices. The observations were recorded on randomly selected plants for germination percentage, no of branches/plant, plant height, number of leaves per branch, no. of plants per plant and yield. The Spade, pickaxe, empty drums were used during experiment. The methods followed during experiment were nipping, passing empty drums, with hold of irrigation, nipping & withhold of irrigation.

Result and Discussion

The results of different treatments nipping, passing empty drums, withholding of irrigation, with holding of irrigation, nipping without irrigation and following usually recommended practices. The data of five treatments were: (Table 1), (a) Nipping at 20 DAS, there was a increase in number of branches per plant after nipping when compared to branches per plant before nipping. Before nipping no of branches per plant recorded was 8 and after nipping it was 17-21 branches. Average height of plants observed before and after nipping was 6.5 and 15 cms, respectively. The number of leaves per plant recorded was 3 and 13, respectively. (b) Passing of empty drums at 20 DAS. No of plants for bed before and after passing of empty drums were 15.12 and 21 were number of branches recorded before and after passing of empty drums, respectively. The number of leaves recorded per plant before and after passing of empty drums were 8 and 15 respectively. (c) Withholding irrigation: The data obtained before and after withholding of irrigation upto 30 days were no of branches per plant were 14 and 15, respectively. The height of plants recorded before and after withholding irrigation were 12 and 15 cms, respectively. 7 and 11 were number of leaves per branch recorded before and after withholding of irrigation. (d) Nipping at 30 DAS without irrigation. The number of branches recorded before and after was 15 and 21, respectively. Heights of plants observed before and after were 14 and 16 cms, respectively. The no of leaves observed per branch before and after nipping at 30 days without irrigation were 9 and 16 respectively. (e) Following recommended remaining cultural practices. The no of branches per plant were 14 and 16 before and after following recommended cultural practices. There was an increase in height after practicing cultural practices. The height of plants recorded before and after practicing cultural practices were 12 and 15 cms, respectively. The number of leaves per branch obtained before and after practice of cultural practices were 7 and 10, respectively. Germination percentage recorded was 75%.

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(a) Nipping: The average number of branches per plant in the experimental plot due to nipping at 20 DAS is 19, and it yields about 46.6 Q/ha. (b) Passing empty drums: The average number of branches per plant due to the passing of empty drums at 20 DAS is 21 and it yields about 53.9 Q/ha. (c) Withholding of irrigation: The average number of branches per plant due of irrigation for 30 DAS is 15 and it yields about 38.4 Q/ha. (d) Nipping and withholding of irrigation: The average number of branches per plant due to nipping and stopping irrigation at 30 DAS is 21 and it yields about 58.5 Q/ha. Unfortunately we have received heavy showers during this treatment, so withholding of irrigation was failed to conduct. (e) Following of recommended cultural practices: average number of branching due to this is 15 and yields about 38.4 Q/ha.

According to the observations taken during the systematic conduction of the experiment with good maintenance of the experimental plots, we have concluded that as the branching of groundnut increases, the yield also increases, respectively. However, the extent of increase in yield and branching varies for different treatments and those differences in the yield obtained were given below:

N-Nipping, PEM-Passing empty drums, WHI-Withholding of irrigation, NWHI-Nipping and withholding of irrigation, FRCP-Following recommended cultural practices Table 2: Effect of treatments on yield of groundnut: Measurements are in Quintals per hectare.

The number of branches led to an increase in yield based on different types of treatments in different experiments were reported in findings of Shashidhar VR, et al. [3], Gowthami V, et al. [4], Nigam SN, et al. [5], Ali FM, et al. [6], Avinasha BL, et al. [7], Nagar R, et al. [8], Oppong SD, et al. [9], Thilini SPLNK, et al. [10], Gawas D, et al. [11], Magagula N, et al. [12], Sathiya K, et al. [13], Mohanty P, et al. [14], Ibrahim II, et al. [15], Yilmaz M, et al. [16], Iddrisu A, et al. [17], Singh N, et al. [18], El Naim AM, et al. [19], Seijo G, et al. [20], Maleki SJ, et al. [21], Michael CY, et al. [22], Sanders TH, et al. [23, 24], Veeramani P, et al. [25].

Summary and Conclusion

Nipping at 20 DAS is done with good maintenance of plots with irrigation. It leads to an increase in branching from 08 to 19 and increases the yield to 46.6 Q/ha. Passing of empty drums: Passing of empty drums at 20 DAS increases branching from 12 to 21 and yields about 53.9 Q/ha. With holding of irrigation: At 30 DAS leads to an increase in branching from 12 to 14 and yields about 38.4 Q/ha. Nipping and withholding of irrigation: Nipping and withholding of irrigation for 30 days increase branching from 15 to 21 and yields about 58.5 Q/ha. Practicing the usual cultural practices: Branching from 14 to 16 and yields up to 38.4 Q/ ha. Nipping and drum passing increases the branching of the ground nut and yield more. With holding irrigation and nipping along without irrigation are comparatively lesser in branching and yields less comparatively. After observing the results described above, we can conclude that passing empty drums at 20 DAS is more effective in increasing branching and groundnut yield. So, we can conclude that the branching of groundnut increases the yield. Empty drum passing is more effective in increasing the number of branches and hence leads to more yield than other treatments. This is because the branches that develop earlier, located in proximity to the ground, will be the first to start defining the number and weight of pods, and with them the sink strength. These branches will show a high partitioning coefficient, thus achieving higher yields than those with a later ontogeny [26].