Effect of irrigation management, municipal waste compost and nitrogen fertilizer on seed yield and some morpho-physiological traits of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

In order to investigate the effect of municipal waste compost and nitrogen fertilizer on yield and some physiological traits of peanut in both irrigated and non-irrigated conditions, an experiment was conducted as a split-split plot based on the randomized complete block design with two levels of irrigation (irrigation and non-irrigation conditions) as the main plot, two levels of compost (0.0 and 5 t/ha) as the sub plot and four levels of nitrogen fertilizer (0.0, 20, 40, and 60 kg N/ha) as sub-sub plot factor during 2018 and 2019. The results showed application of 5 t/ha compost caused significant increase in pod length, chlorophyll b and carotenoids by 9.65%, 10.3% and 16.1%, respectively. The highest values of pod length and seed yield were observed under irrigated conditions and application of 40 and 60 kg N/ha and seed yield was increased by interaction of 5 t/ha compost × 60 kg N/ha. With increasing nitrogen consumption, the amount of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and SPAD reading increased significantly and the highest amount of these traits was obtained by using 60 and 40 kg N/ha. In addition, seed yield in the second year (under non-irrigation conditions and no application of nitrogen fertilizer) had a significant increase (equal to 21%) compared to the same conditions in the first year. In general, it seems that the application of 40 kg N/ha and 5 t/ha of municipal solid waste compost can improve morpho-physiological traits and seed yield in the peanut, especially under non-irrigation conditions.