Articles
THE EFFECT OF SPACING AND FERTILIZER APPLICATION ON THE GROWTH, YIELD AND YIELD COMPONENTS OF SESAME (SESAMUM INDICUM L.)
Dulce S 49 (7.5 x 60 cm and 15.0 x 60 cm) increased the leaf area index, crop growth rate and shoot dry matter production but not plant height and final seed yield.
The number of branches per plant, the number of podding nodes per plant, the number of pods per plant and the number of mature seeds per pod decreased with close planting (7.5 x 60 cm and 15.0 x 60 cm), whereas wider spaced plants (22.5 x 60 cm and 30 x 60 cm) produced their first pods at lower heights.
The 1000-seed weight was not affected by spacing.
In the major season (March to July, 1972) plants with a higher crop growth rate and shoot dry matter were produced which outyielded those of the minor season (September to November 1972) in seed per hectare although minor season crop produced much taller plants with higher leaf area index than the major season.
Net assimilation rate did not change much with season.
Poultry manure increased shoot dry matter production by 31%, plant height by 10% and total seed yield by 13% over the control.
At the same time chemical nitrogen lowered shoot dry matter production, plant height and seed yields by 8%, 10% and 12% respectively below the control.
Leaf area index, net assimilation rate and crop growth rate were unaffected by fertilizer application.
Fertilizer application did not significantly increase the number of podding nodes per plant, the number of pods per plant nor the number of mature seeds per pod, though the chemical nitrogen application tended to increase seed weight significantly.