Effect of sowing date and plant density on yield and morphophenological traits of lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) in Zabol

Subject Areas : Journal of Plant Ecophysiology

m. Delarami ¹ , Seyyed Gholamreza Moosavi ²

1 - گروه زراعت و اصلاح نباتات، واحد بیرجند، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، بیرجند، ایران
2 - Associate Professor, Islamic Azad University, Birjand Branch, Birjand, Iran

Received: 2015-02-15 Accepted : 2015-06-11 Published : 2016-09-01

Keywords: Temperature, Flowering, Lentil, sowing delay, plant number,

Abstract :

Sowing date and plant density are among the most important factors effect on crop yield. In order to determine the effects of sowing date and plant density on yield and morphophenological traits of lentil cv. Sistan, a factorial design experiment was carried out in 2009 at Zabol, Iran. The experiment was arranged on a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The treatments included four sowing date (November 21, December 5, December 19 and January 2) and three density (18, 24, 36 and 71 plants .m-2). The results showed that delay in sowing delayed emergence, flowering and decreased length of growth period. Delayed sowing from November 21 to January 2 decreased main branch number per plant, first pod height from ground, plant height and seed yield by 9.9, 31.3, 21.3 and 14.8%, respectively. Also, means comparison showed that with increasing the plant density from 18 to 72 plants .m-2, branch number per plant decreased by 5.5 %, while first pod height from ground, plant height and seed yield increased by 43.2, 83.9 and 104.4%, respectively. Overall, it is recommended to use sowing date of November 21 with plant density of 72 plants .m-2 in order to obtain the highest seed yield of lentil in Zabol, Iran.