Reproductive development of two groundnut cultivars as influenced by boron and light

Abstract

Boron is an important micronutrient that enhances reproductive growth of crops such as groundnut. Light also plays an important role for pegging of groundnut. There has been little information on the application of boron and light in groundnut in Bangladesh. A field experiment was conducted to study the effects of boron and light on the reproductive development of two groundnut cultivars. Treatments considered as two groundnut cultivars, viz., ‘Dhaka-1 (C1)’ and ‘BARI Chinabadam-8 (C2)’, three levels of boron (B), viz., 0-kg B ha−1 (B0), 1-kg B ha−1 (B1) and 2-kg B ha−1 (B2), and two levels of light, viz., normal day light (≈12-h light) and normal day light + 6-h extended red light at night (≈18-h light). Result revealed that the reproductive development, yield and shelling percentage of groundnut were markedly increased with the application of B. Due to imposition of light all of reproductive units increased but decrease number of pods and pod yield. The highest reproductive unit and yield were observed from ‘BARI Chinabadam-8’. Therefore, reproductive development could be improved by application of boron in improved cultivars (BARI Chinabadam-8) but not for under extended light. Keywords: Groundnut, Reproductive development, Light, Boron, Pegs, Pods, Shelling percentage