Abstract:
Groundnut (Arachis hypogea L.) is an important oil crop grown in Sri
Lanka. Application of fertilizer is substantially contributing to the
yield increment; however improper management of fertilizer is the
specific drawback in quality and quantity in groundnut. Therefore, the
application of balanced fertilizer and minerals play an important role
in the cultivation of groundnut. An experiment was conducted at the
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Kilinochchi to assess
the effect of different rates of gypsum application on yield performance
of groundnut varieties from January to May 2019. Two-factor factorial
experiment was conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD)
with three replications. Four different rates of gypsum application such as
0 kg/ha (T1
- Control), 75 kg/ha (T2
), l25 kg/ha (T3
), and 175 kg/ha (T4
)
were used as the first factor and five groundnut varieties, namely Tissa (V1
), Lanka Jumbo (V2
), Tikiri (V3
), Indi (V4
), and ANK G1 (V5
) were used
as the second factor. All the agronomic practices were done according
to the recommendations of the Department of Agriculture. The yield
parameters were recorded, and the shelling percentage was calculated.
Data were analyzed using SAS 9.1 package to perform ANOVA. The best
treatment was identified through the means separation using Duncan’s
Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at p = 0.05. The yield parameters of fresh and
dry weight of pods / plant, hundred pods and seeds weight, number of
mature and immature pods and total yield were higher in gypsum applied
treatments rather than control and the highest in T4
(175 kg/ha gypsum)
treatment. All the yield parameters were significantly different in Lanka
Jumbo and ANK G1 from other varieties. However, the number of mature
pods and shelling percentage were similar among the varieties. The highest
shelling percentage (96 %) was recorded in Lanka Jumbo under 175 kg/
ha gypsum application (T4
). The highest yield parameters were recorded
in Lanka Jumbo variety, whereas the lowest was in ANK G1. There was
no interaction effect among gypsum application and varieties in the yield
parameters. From this study, it can be concluded that the application of
175 kg/ha gypsum (T4
) to the variety of Lanka Jumbo (V2
) can be selected
as suitable treatment combination to obtain the substantial yield from
groundnut in Yala season.
