Effect of Dates of Sowing and Topping on Seed Production of Tossa and White Jute in Red and Laterite Zone of West Bengal

Aim: To assess the effects of date of sowing and topping on seed production of tossa and white jute. Design: Split plot. Place and Duration of Study: Field experiment was conducted during Kharif season of 2014 and 2015 at Regional Research Sub-station, Raghunathpur, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Purulia, West Bengal, India. Methodology: Two separate experiments were carried out on white jute, Corchorus capsularis L. (cv.JRC698) and tossa jute, Corchorus olitorius L.(cv. JRO-8432), each having 3 replications, With 3 main plots, namely dates of sowing (D1-15thJune, D2-15thJuly and D3-15 August) and 4 sub plots for topping treatments (T1-No topping, T2-Topping at 30DAS,T3-Topping at 45DAS and T4-Topping at 60DAS) under rainfed condition. Results: In both the jute variety, the first date of sowing (15thJune) proved superiority to other sowing dates irrespective of topping, while topping at 45DAS revealed best results compared to others in both the years. First date of sowing (15thJune) along with topping at 45 DAS (30thJuly) recorded highest number of yield attributes namely, primary branches plant-1, number of pods plant-1 number of seeds pod-1 and the highest seed yield which is responsible for significantly higher net return and benefit: cost ratio in both the varieties. Conclusion: Early sowing i.e. on or before15thJune and topping at 45 days age of the crop could be recommended for enhancement of total seed production in capsularis as well as Olitorius jute in red laterite zone of West Bengal.