Ideal Sowing Dates and Genotypes for Summer Irrigated Pearlmillet (Pennisetum glaucum l.) in Gujarat, India

This study was undertaken at College Farm, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, India during summer season of 2010. The experiment included the three summer dates of sowing viz., 25 January, 5 February and 15 February along with three prominent pearlmillet cultivars namely GHB 538, GHB 558 and GHB 744 which were tested statistically with three replications. The results gained from an experiment confirm that early sowing date along with summer pearlmillet genotype GHB 538 is beneficial. Sowing pearlmillet during last week of January or first week of February increased the yield as well as net returns from the crop. Pearlmillet sown on 5 February (3.24 t ha⁻¹) gave significantly highest grain yield followed by 25 January (3.04 t ha⁻¹) sowing, while 15 February sowing gave significantly lowest yield. The variety GHB 538 (V₁) recorded appreciably higher values of almost all the growth and yield parameters than rest of the varieties (GHB 558 and GHB 744).