Productivity of sorghum (Sorghum bicolar L.) at diverse irrigation regimes and sowing dates in semi-arid and arid environment.

Determining optimal sowing date, optimal number of irrigation applications, and best-performing cultivars is critical to maximizing achievable sorghum yield in semiarid and arid environments. Limited research is available on interactive effects of sowing date, irrigation frequency, and genotype at multiple locations. Consequently, this study was conducted to determine impact of sowing dates, irrigation regimes, and cultivars on yield and growth traits during 2016 and 2017 at two locations in Pakistan. Experiments were laid out in a split-split design at Maize and Millets Research Institute, Yusafwala, Sahiwal, and at Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. Each experiment was comprised of three factors: (a) main plot irrigation regimes (I0 = Two irrigations; I1 = Four irrigations; I2 = Six irrigations; and I3 = Eight irrigations), (b) sub-plot varieties (V1 = YSS 98; V2 =Y 16; and V3 = Lasani hybrid), and (c) sub-subplot sowing dates (SD1 = 15 June; SD2 = 1 July; SD3 = 15 July, and SD4 = 30 July). Results showed that effects of sowing date, irrigation regimes, and varieties on growth and sorghum yield were significant. Planting time July was far superior for studying growth traits, phenology, and yield of sorghum varieties than early planting time (15 June), for which adverse effects on all characteristics of plant traits were observed. Various irrigations levels also affected sorghum yield, but I2 produced best results. Maximum performance index was observed in the second year of study. Decreasing productivity pattern was I2 > I3 > I1 > I0 for irrigation regimes, V3 > V2 > V1 for cultivars and SD3 > SD4 > SD2 > SD1 for sowing dates at Sahiwal and Multan. Results revealed that germplasm resource is a need of day that can be used for future plant improvements in semiarid and arid environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]