Influence of sowing windows and irrigation schedules on growth and yield of castor (Ricinus communis L.)

A field experiment on “Influence of sowing windows and irrigation schedules on growth, yield and quality of castor (Ricinus communis L.)” was carried out during the years 2015- 16 and 2016- 17 at Instructional Farm, Post Graduate Institute, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Dist. Ahmednagar (Maharashtra) India. The experiment was laid in split plot design with three replications. The experiment consists of twelve treatment combinations with three main plot treatment (sowing windows) i.e. S1: Second fortnight of June, S2: Second fortnight of July, S3: Second fortnight of August and four sub-plot treatments (irrigation levels) i.e. I1: Rainfed (No irrigation), I2: Irrigation at 50 mm CPE, I3: Irrigation at 75 mm CPE and I4: Irrigation at 100 mm CPE. Sowing of castor at second fortnight of June recorded maximum growth attributes viz., plant height (249.53 cm), number of branches plant-1 (6.39), number of functional leaves plant-1 (29.02), number of nodes to main stem (19.14), number of raceme plant-1 (5.88), days to 50 per cent maturity (109.33) and dry matter (165.15 g plant-1 ) of castor crop, While irrigation at 75 mm CPE recorded maximum growth attributes viz., plant height (247.12 cm), number of branches plant-1 (6.14), number of functional leaves plant-1 (39.16), number of node to main stem (19.28) number of raceme plant-1 (5.73), days to 50 per cent maturity (110.89) and dry matter ( 173.31 g plant-1) on pooled mean basis. Sowing of castor at second fortnight of June recorded maximum yield attributes viz. number of total raceme plant-1 (9.92), length of main stem (50.33 cm) and side branch raceme (35.03 cm), number of capsules raceme-1 (37.40), weight of dry capsule (306.88 g plant-1), 100 seed weight (26.11 g) and maximum seed (3222.53 kg ha-1) and stalk yield (7407.41 kg ha-1) of castor, on pooled mean basis. Similarly, irrigation at 75 mm CPE recorded yield attributes viz., number of total raceme plant-1 (9.79), length of main stem (52.33 cm), side branch raceme (38.04 cm), number of capsules raceme-1 (49.07), weight of dry capsule (298 g plant-1), 100 seed weight (26.21 g) and maximum seed (3105.97 kg ha-1) and stalk (7386.83 kg ha-1) yield of castor on pooled mean basis.