Effect of Plant Pattern and Density on Morphological Characteristics and Yield-Related Traits of Non-Dehiscent Sesame Cultivar

Determining the appropriate planting arrangement and plant density leads to better productivity of resources and increased yield per unit area. In this regard, an experiment was conducted in the Ardabil agricultural and natural resources research and education center (Moghan) during the 2021 crop year. This experiment uses a strip plot design based on randomized complete blocks with four replications. Its main factor is the effect of planting rows at a spacing of 30, 45, and 60 cm with planting spacing of 5, 8, 11, and 14 cm serving as the subfactor. According to the results, by increasing the distance between plants on the planting row, the maximum days to flowering initiation (47.25 days), growth period (122.25 days), stem diameter (8.33 mm), number of branches (2.97), and capsule length (24.20 mm) of sesame can be observed at a planting distance of 14 cm between the plants. Row spacing of 45 to 30 cm increases the number of capsules per plant, the number of seeds per capsule, and 1000-seed weight of sesame by 33, 18.50, and 16, respectively. The highest seed yield, fresh and dry weight belong to 1455.40, 5021.80, and 1280.73 kg/ha, respectively, at 45 cm distance between planting rows. The results from this experiment show that planting arrangement with a distance between plants of 14 cm and a distance between planting rows of 45 cm, with optimal use of environmental resources is suitable for cultivation in Moghan plain and recommended for local farmers.

Keywords: capsule number; planting spacing; row spacing; thousand-seed weight; total dry matter