Effect of sowing time, method of sowing and seed rate on yield and oil quality of niger (Guizotia Abyssinica)

An investigation on suitable sowing time, method of sowing and seed rate for Niger indicated that higher seed (3.41 qha(-1)) and stalk yield (18.80 qha(-1)) was obtained by sowing Niger in 26 MW (25 June to 1(st) July), which proved significantly superior to the crop sown in 24 (11-17 June) or 28 (19-15 July) standard meteorological week. Marked increase in the protein (19.88%) and oil (39.93%) content as well as protein (67.96 kgha(-1)) and oil (136.41 kgha-1) yield Was observed by sowing Niger in 26 MW. Similarly line sowing (30 cm) recorded significantly higher seed and stalk yield of Niger. The oil content in seed was not significantly influenced due to different sowing methods, but oil yield (kgha-1) significantly improved with line sowing (30cm) method obviously due to higher seed yield by this method. The 4-kgha(-1) seed rate produced significantly higher seed yield (3.07qha(-1)) over 6 kgha-1 (2.92 qha(-1)) and 8 kgha(-1) (2.88 qha(-1)) with noticeable improvement in oil and protein content as well as oil and protein yield. Results suggest that in this region under study on Niger non-cash input of early sowing (26MW) and line sowing (30cm) in combination of low cash input of 4 kg seed rate/ha should be followed.