Influence of Time of Sowing on Productivity and Seed Quality in Babchi (Psoralea corylifolia L.)

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different sowing time on seed yield and quality in under used medicinal plant babchi. The study was carried out for 12 months from January to December. Results showed that the seeds sown in November month recorded the maximum seed yield and quality parameters followed by October month than other months. November month recorded the maximum field emergence (92%), number of branches per plant (12), number of racemes per plant (121) at 90 days after sowing, pod yield (2415kgha -1 ), seed yield (1931kgha -1 ), 100 seed weight (1.69g), germination (46%), vigour index (901), protein (18.8%), oil content (6.7%) and it was on pared with October month. Lowest seed yield of 825 kgha -1 was recorded in February month sown crop, the other biochemical quality parameters like protein (18.0%) and oil (6.2%) content were also low in this month. Finally, it could be concluded that October or November was the suitable time for babchi sowing.