RESPONSE OF GROUNDNUT (Arachis hypogaea L.) VARIETIES TO VARYING DEFOLIATION INTENSITIES

Loss of foliage in crops could be due to leaf eating insect, diseases, grazing animal and or deliberate cutting of the foliage by humans for consumption and for purpose of green manuring. The level and intensity of this defoliation could have diverse effect on the crop plant. An experiment to study the response of groundnut varieties to varying defoliation intensities was conducted in the wet season of 2012. The treatments which consisted of four intensities of defoliation; No defoliation, (D1), defoliating 10 plants per plot (D2), defoliating 20 plants per plot (D3) and defoliating 30 plants per plot (D4), time of defoliation, 4 weeks after sowing (WAS) T1 and 6WAS T2 and two varieties SAMNUT 21 (V1) and SAMNUT 23 (V2) were laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated three times. Result obtained showed that number of pods per plant; pod yield per plot and haulm yield per plot were significantly affected by time of defoliation and intensity of defoliation. Similarly the varieties evaluated differed significantly in their response to time and intensity of defoliation