Investigating the Effect of Planting Pattern and Weed Management on the Yield and Growth Indices of Two Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Cultivars

To investigate the effect of weed management and planting pattern on the growth and yield of two peanut cultivars, a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design with three replications was carried out in the Agriculture and Natural Resources Campus of Razi University, Kermanshah in 2021. The experimental factors include 1) cultivars NC2 and NC7, 2) planting pattern (row and plant spacing of 50 cm × 25 cm and 75 cm × 18 cm), and 3) two times weeding along with the use of Trifluralin 48% EC (796 g a.i.ha-1), Bentazon 48% SL (960 g a.i.ha-1) and Haloxyfop-r-methyl 10.8% EC (75 g a.i.ha-1), weeding two times along with the use of Trifluralin (1233 g a.i.ha-1), twice weeding together with the use of Haloxyfop-r-methyl and Bentazon, complete weeding and weed-infested treatment. The results showed that the weed control significantly increased the plant's dry weight. The kernels dry weight in the plant showed a significant increase in both studied planting patterns in weed control compared to no control. However, the impact of weed control treatments on the two studied planting patterns did not exhibit any significant differences, except for the complete weeding treatment. The kernels dry weight within plants subjected to complete weeding in the 50 × 25 cm planting pattern exhibited a 39.31% increase relative to those grown in the 75 × 18 cm. The response of dry weight of kernels and pods was high for cultivar NC2 in a planting pattern of 50 x 25 cm and for cultivar NC7 in 75 x 18 cm. In general, according to the obtained results, due to the high sensitivity of peanuts to weed competition, it is suggested to control weeds at the beginning of the growing season until about 60 days after planting, regardless of the type of planting pattern.