Effect of sowing dates and fertility levels on grain yield and its component traits in lentil

Sixteen lentil genotypes including seven small seeded and nine large seeded were evaluated for seed yield and its component traits under two sowing dates (timely & late sown) and two fertilizer (NP) levels (recommended & 33 percent higher dose) during rabi 2007–08 and 2008–09. Results revealed that dates of sowing (DOS), levels of fertilizers (LOF) and genotypes interacted significantly with almost all the traits under study. Timely sown crop increased fruiting branches per plant (NFBPP), pods per plant (NPPP), biological yield (BY), seed yield (SY), days to 50% flowering (DF) and maturity (DM), whereas late sown crop increased HI significantly. Higher fertilizer dose also significantly increased NFBPP, NPPP, BY and SY, while DF, DM and HI remained unaffected. Genotypes were least affected due to DOS or LOF.