Growth and Forage Yield of Pearl Millet (Pennisetum americanum L.) as Affected by Irrigation Frequency, Seed Rate and Nitrogen in the United Arab Emirates.

Page(s): 4 (1), 45- 62, 14 Ref.Experiments were conducted in the United Arab Emirates during the summers of 1989 and 1990 to study the effects of four irrigation frequencies, two seed rates and four levels of nitrogen fertilization on the growth and forage yield of pearl millet. The design of the experiments was a split-split. Shortening the irrigation frequency pronouncedly increased number of plants/m2 and plant height. The highest leaf area was obtained with irrigation of 60 mm every 3 days. Increasing the seed rate reduced number of tillers/plant and plant leaf area and increased number of plants/m2 with no significant effect on plant height. Nitrogen application significantly increased number of plants/m2. The general means of total dry matter yields were 6.75 and 7.16 t/ha, in 1989 and 1990, respectively. The highest total dry matter yields were obtained when the crop was sown at 30 kg of seeds/ ha, irrigated with 20 mm every day and fertilized with 200 kg N/ha. However, the 30 kg of seeds/ha was not considered an optimum seed rate under the conditions of the current experiments.Khartoum University Pres