Dry Matter Partitioning of Bunch and Runner Type Peanut in Relation to Levels and Methods of Paclobutrazol Application

Abstract

Peanut (Arachis hypogea) is a protein-rich and oil-laden food legume. Farmers in the region commonly grow peanut at dry season because during the wet season, upper part of peanut is prioritized instead of pod formation resulting to low yield. One way of increasing yield is suppression of shoot growth through paclobutrazol application. The exrperiment was conducted in Pampanga, Philippines following three-factor factorial Randomized Complete Block Design to determine dry matter partitioning of different types of peanut relative to levels and methods of paclobutrazol application. Each treatment was replicated thrice. Data were analyzed under Analysis of Variance and Honest Significant Difference test was used to compare treatment means. Results reveal that paclobutrazol levels reduced stem length of runner and bunch by 36.37% and 65.64% one month after application. Likewise, paclobutrazol levels reduced leaf and stem dry mass of the runner by 20.94% and 19.87%, respectively. Runner with 75mg/L paclobutrazol obtained 58.09% increase in harvest index. The crop growth rate and distribution index of runner increased by 20.72% and 32.56% across levels
and methods of paclobutrazol application. Increasing level of paclobutrazol increased total pod dry mass of runner by 26.29%.