Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Faculty of Agriculture, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, P.O.-Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, 741252, West Bengal, India
*Corresponding author: ghoshargha4@gmail.com
Online published on 7 May, 2018.
To investigate the optimum sowing time of grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) in New Alluvial Zone of West Bengal, field experiment was conducted with grass pea (cv.: Prateek), sown on nine different dates from 26th October to 21st December at weekly interval during the winter season of 2016–17 at the Instructional Farm (22°58´ N, 88°31´ E), Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India. Grain yield and different yield attributes viz. numbers of pods per plant (PP), numbers of grains per pod (GP) and test weight of grains (TW) were observed and statistically analyzed. It was observed that sowing time greatly altered grain yield and yield attributes. Highest mean grain yield (994.4 kg/ha) was obtained from the crops sown on 16th November. TW showed highest correlation with grain yield (r = 0.88**). Test weight of grains seemed to be the most important yield attribute in terms of adjusted R2 values (0.752**), obtained from the regression analysis between grain yield and different yield attributes individually and in combination. It was clear that grass pea should be sown after 2nd November and not beyond 16th November to obtain the potential productivity in the New Alluvial Zone of West Bengal.
Grain yield of grass pea was influenced by the time of sowing to a greater extent.
Among all yield attributes, contribution of test weight of grains (TW) to final grain yield (GY) was the maximum.
To get potential production of grass pea, the crop should be sown during the first two weeks of November in the New Alluvial Zone of West Bengal
Grass pea, grain yield, optimum sowing time, yield attributes
