Effects of sowing dates on growth, development andyield formation in lentil in the eastern forest-steppe of Ukraine

Abstract

Depending on sowing dates, plants get into different agro-meteorological conditions of growth and development, which greatly affects seed yield and quality.

Our study aim was to investigate sowing dates and their influence on growth, development and yield capacity of lentil in the Eastern Forest-Steppe of Ukraine.

Methods. The studies were conducted in the experimental fields of Kharkiv National Agrarian University nd. A V. V. Dokuchaiev in 2009-2010. The study material was the lentil cultivar Krasnogradskaya 49 bred by Krasnograd Experiment Station. Two sowing schedules were experimentally assessed: the first schedule - April 8–10 and the second one- April 20-22.

Lentil was sown with two seeding rates of 2.0 and 2.5 million germinable seeds per 1 ha.

Results. Peculiarities of influence of the factor and its interaction on yield formation in lentil were established by analysis of variance. Early sowing dates increase the yield capacity by 29-33 % compared with the late ones (10-12 days after early sowing).

At the same time survival of plants is drastically reduced during the growing season as well as the numbers of pods and seeds per pod and lentil seed size. When sowing is delayed, even for 10 days, soil moisture in major areas of lentil cultivation is significantly diminished; as a result, seeds swell non uniformly, and sprouts are uneven, which drastically reduces lentil grain yield.

Conclusions. Early lentil crops developed under more favorable conditions and optimal water provision over all the study years, which ensured formation of the highest grain yield.