PERFORMANCE OF GROUNDNUT UNDER DIFFERENT PLANT POPULATION AND WEED MANAGEMENT

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during November 2013 to April 2014 to study the effect of row spacing and weed management on the performance of groundnut (cv. BARI Chinabadum-8). The experiment comprised of two factors viz., (i) plant spacing and (ii) weed management with three levels of plant spacing (S1 = 20 cm × 15 cm, S2 = 30 cm × 15 cm, S3 = 40 cm × 15 cm ) and five levels of weeding treatments (W0= No weeding, W1= Hand weeding at 20 DAS, W2 = Hand weeding at 20 and 45 DAS, W3= Pre emergence herbicide, Sunup 480 SL spraying after land preparation, W4 = Post emergence herbicide, Release 9 EC spraying at 20 DAS . Results revealed that plant spacing with 30 cm × 15 cm stand superior than other in respect of plant height ( 33.67 cm) above ground dry matter weight plant-1 (30.35 g), kernel pod-1 (1.63), pods plant-1 (14.87), 1000-seeds weight (455.13 g), shelling % (67.80), pod yield (1.78 t ha-1), stover yield (3.38 t ha-1), biological yield ( 4.86 t ha-1) and harvest index (35.91 %) respectively while maximum number of branches plant-1 (8.27) and leaves plant-1 (85.95) were found in 40 cm × 15 cm spacing at harvest. Among 5 weed management practices, the highest plant height (38.14 cm), branches plant-1 (9.95), leaves plant-1 (111.10), dry matter content plant-1 (40.46 g), kernel pod-1 (1.75), pods plant-1 (19.05), 1000-seeds weight (481.22 g), shelling % (71.11), pod yield (2.21 t ha-1), stover yield (3.47 t ha-1), Biological yield (5.69 t ha-1), and harvest index (38.85 %) were obtained by 2 hand weeding management practice at harvest. In interaction, the maximum plant height (39.40 cm), dry matter content plant-1 (44.71g), branches plant-1 (11.00), leaves plant-1 (120.17), kernel pod-1 (1.77), pods plant-1 (21.14 ), 1000-seeds weight ( 495.33g ), shelling % (72.21), pod yield ( 2.48 t ha-1 ), stover yield (3.86 t ha-1), biological yield (6.02 t ha-1) and harvest index ( 41.11%) were induced with 30 cm × 15 cm row spacing followed by 2 hand weeding at harvest.