YIELD OF SORGHUM INTERCROPPED WITH PEANUT AT DIFFERENT PLANTING DATES AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SORGHUM LEAF CHARACTERISTICS

Leaves are photosynthetic organs that greatly affect plant growth and yield. In an intercropping system, leaves often experience shade stress, so it is necessary to adjust the planting dates between intercrops. This study aimed to determine the effect of additive intercropping of sorghum with peanut relay-planted at different dates on yield of sorghum and its relationship with leaf characteristics of the sorghum plants. The experiment, carried out in the IP2TP NTB experimental farm located East Lombok (Indonesia) from September 2020 to January 2021, was arranged according to a randomized block design with four treatments, namely W0 (sorghum monocrop), W1 (peanut relay-planted 14 days before sorghum planting), W2 (peanut relay-planted on the same day as sorghum planting), W3 (peanut relay-planted 14 days after planting (DAP) of sorghum). The experiment was made in 4 blocks (replicates). Results indicated that additive intercropping of sorghum with peanut relay-planted at different dates between rows of sorghum did no affected characteristics of sorghum leaves, but those leaf characteristics showed significant correlation with grain yield of sorghum especially the greenness levels of the leaves at 60 and 80 DAP and greenness levels of the flag leaves, which all showed significant correlation coefficients. However, those intercropping treatments had a significant effect on grain yield, dry stover weight and harvest index of sorghum, with the highest dry grain yield of 46.87 g/plant (or 3.35 ton/ha) was obtained on sorghum intercropped with peanut relay-planted on the same day as sorghum planting date.