Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Early Access

Optimizing sowing time and method for enhancing horse gram productivity in rainfed ecosystems

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.8389
Submitted
19 March 2025
Published
25-06-2025
Versions

Abstract

Horse gram yield parameters are influenced by environmental factors, especially temperature and humidity, which restrict the sowing time since horse gram is a photosensitive crop. A field investigation was conducted at the Regional Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Paiyur, Tamil Nadu, during the northeast monsoon season (October 2017 to September 2019) to determine the optimal sowing time and suitable method of sowing. The trial was carried out using a strip plot design with three replications. Strip one consisted of six dates of sowing viz., D1 - 43rd meteorological standard week (MSW), D2 - 44th MSW, D3 - 45th MSW, D4 - 46th MSW, D5 - 47th MSW and D6 - 48th MSW. Strip two comprised of three methods of sowing viz., S1 - Broadcasting, S2 - Line sowing and S3 - Seed drill sowing. The results of the field investigation revealed that higher growth parameters and yield attributes such as number of pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1, 100 grain weight were recorded in horse gram sown during 40th MSW (D1) than other sowing dates, which correspondingly increase higher grain yield (622 kg/ha) was noted when compared to other time of sowing. Among the different types of sowing under study, line sowing recorded a higher number of pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1, 100 grain weight, grain yield and haulm yield than other methods of sowing. However, in the interaction study 40th MSW and see drill methods of sowing of horse gram recorded higher grain yield as compared with other sowing methods. Hence, it could be concluded that either line or see drill sowing during 40thMSW can produce the highest growth and yield parameters, resulting in increased yield of horse gram under rainfed conditions.

References

  1. 1. Cook BG, Pengelly BC, Brown SD, Donnelly JL, Eagles DA, Franco MA. Tropical Forages: an interactive selection tool. [CD-ROM], CSIRO, DPI&F (Qld), CIAT and ILRI, Brisbane, Australia; 2005.
  2. 2. Reddy PCO, Sairanganayakulu G, Thippeswamy M, Reddy PS, Reddy MK, Sudhakar C. Identification of stress induced genes from the drought tolerance semi-arid legume crop horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdc.) through analysis of subtracted expressed sequence tags. Plant Sci. 2008;175(3):372-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2008.05.012
  3. 3. Bhardwaj J, Yadav SK. Comparative study on biochemical parameters and antioxidant enzymes in a drought tolerant and a sensitive variety of horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) under drought stress. Am J Plant Physiol. 2012;7(1):17. https://doi.org/10.3923/ajpp.2012.17.29
  4. 4. Arora K, Chandel PS. Botanical source areas of wild herbage legumes in India. Tropical Grasslands. 1972;6:213-21.
  5. 5. Sudha N, Begum JM, Shambulingappa KG, Babu CK. Nutrients and some anti-nutrients in horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdc). Food Nutr Bull. 1995;16(1):100. https://doi.org/10.1177/156482659501600114
  6. 6. Anonymous. Area, production, and yield of principle crops. Directorate of Economics and statistics, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation report, Government of India, New Delhi; 2018. Available from: http://www.indiastat.com
  7. 7. Sofield I, Evans L, Cook M, Wardlaw IF. Factors influencing the rate and duration of grain filling in wheat. Funct Plant Biol. 1977;4(5):785-97.
  8. 8. Krishna KR. Agroecosystems of South India: nutrient dynamics, ecology and productivity: Universal Publishers; 2010.
  9. 9. Tahir M, Ali A, Nadeem MA, Hussain A, Khalid F. Effect of different sowing dates on growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties in district Jhang, Pakistan. Pakistan J Life Social Sci. 2009;7(1):66-9.
  10. 10. Crop Production Guide. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu; 2020. p. 158.
  11. 11. Aiyer YN. Horsegram. In: Field crops of India. Bangalore: Bangalore Press; 1990. p. 115-7.
  12. 12. Hanamaratti NG, Salimath PM. Association of flowering delay under stress and drought tolerance in upland rice (Oryza sativa L.). Int J Forest Crop Improv. 2012;3(2):99-104.
  13. 13. Secondo ASP, Reddy YAN. Plant growth retardants improve sink strength and yield of sunflower. Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci. 2018;7(10):111-9. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.710.013
  14. 14. Sivakumar R, Vijayakumar M, Tamilselvan N. Impact of foliar spray of PGR nutrient consortium on growth, photosynthesis and yield of horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum Lam) under rainfed condition. Legume Res. 2023;46(8):981-7. https://doi.org/10.18805/LR-4413
  15. 15. Biswas M, Begum AA, Afzal A, Mia FU, Hamid A. Effect of sowing dates on the growth and yield of black gram varieties. Pakistan J Biol Sci. 2002;5(3):272-4. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjbs.2002.272.274
  16. 16. Nagaraju AP, Yadahalli YH, Shivanandaiah MP, Shambulingappa KG. Response of horsegram (Macrotyloma uniflorum) cultivars to seeding date and spacing. Indian J Agron. 1995;40(4):626-9.
  17. 17. Thiyagarajan R, Suthakar B, Manoharan M. Evaluation of seed drill on productivity and resultant seed quality of rainfed horsegram. Int J Current Microbiol Appl Sci. 2020;9(2):2100-8. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.902.238

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.