PJB-2023-65
Recently, hemp has become more popular because of its special therapeutic properties and other advantages. In light of this popularity and importance a study was organized to check the effect of sowing dates on the performance of indigenous hemp eco
Abbas Sabai
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Recently, hemp has become more popular because of its special therapeutic properties and other advantages. In light of this popularity and importance a study was organized to check the effect of sowing dates on the performance of indigenous hemp ecotypes at the Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, The University of Agriculture Peshawar during 2022. The experiment was laid out in Randomize Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement having two factors and replicated three times. The performance of two hemp ecotypes (Tirah and Harnai) was observed at six different sowing dates i.e., 18th February, 5th March, 20th March, 4th April, 20th April and 5th May 2022. From the results it was concluded that all the parameters related to growth of hemp ecotypes were significantly influenced by sowing dates, while results in case of ecotypes were non-significant except for germination percentage, plant height, leaf area and number of branches. In case of ecotypes, maximum germination percentage (79.58%) was attained by the Harnai ecotype while maximum plant height (345.4cm) and number of branches (73.8) were achieved by the Tirah ecotype. Among the sowing dates, the hemp sown on the earliest sowing date of 18th February gave the best performance providing maximum chlorophyll content (65.3), plant height (345.4 cm), number of branches plant-1 (73.8), internode length (5.1 cm), number of leaves plant-1 (1601.2), stem diameter (41.5 mm), leaf fresh weight (814.7 g), leaf dry weight (387.1 g), leaf area (10493.9 cm2), stem fresh weight (2265.3 g), stem dry weight (1068.3 g), plant (shoot) fresh weight (3284.4 g), plant (shoot) dry weight (1431.6 g) and biological yield (53.0 tons ha-1). Based on the results, it is concluded that the earliest sowing date of 18th February showed the best results and the Tirah ecotype performed well under the agro-climatic conditions of Peshawar by providing the highest biological yield. However, the plants did not produce tricomes and died before maturity due to unbearable heat in the month of August.
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