Effect of NPK application dates on agronomic parameters of two Bambara groundnut varieties cultivated on ferric Lixisol in northern Sudanian Sector of Burkina Faso

Bambara groundnut is a neglected legume crop that contributes to improve global food and face food insecurity. In Burkina Faso, research on Bambara groundnut cropping system were essentially focused on mounding times. Less attention has been paid on the application of fertilizers. Experiments was carried out on the site of Tenkodogo University Centre (11°48’37’’N, 0°22’19’’W), Burkina Faso to study the response of two Bambara groundnut varieties to different NPK application periods. The experiments consisted of a factorial combination of two factors, including the varieties (KVS 235 and KVS 246) and the different NPK application dates (At basal, 7, 15 and 21 days after sowing) in completely randomised blocks with three replications. Characters were collected, including plant height and spread, total biomass at flowering, stalks weight, yield-components and yield. The results indicated that most of characters not varied significantly for both varieties whatever NPK application period except for stalks weight (P = 0.013). The interactions between varieties and NPK application dates had significant effects for only total biomass at flowering (P = 0.048). In addition, pod length has significant effect (P = 0.032) between varieties. The significant effect on the characters mentioned above in both varieties implies that application of NPK fertilizer have influenced the characteristics differently, depending on the period of bringing. NPK application at basal lead to best performance of the results regarding pod and seed dimension and 100-seeds weight and yield. In general, KVS235 outperformed than KVS 246.