Groundnut growth and development in contrasting environments 2. Heat unit accumulation and photo-thermal effects on harvest index

When the same cultivars of groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea) were grown under a rr;ide range of environmental conditions, temperature and irradiance played a major role in determining crop duration and partitioning of dry matter to pods, the latter assessed by harvest,index. Utilizing published data for the Virginia groundnut cultivar Early Bunch under non-limiting conditions, we show that accumulation of thermal time using three cardinal temperatures (T-b = 9 degrees C, T-o = 29 degrees C and T-m = 39 degrees C) has considerable potential for predicting crop maturity. In sixteen sowings ranging from the wet tropics in Indonesia to the elevated subtropics in Australia, harvest date for Early Bunch corresponded to the accumulation of 1808 (+/-23) degree-days after sowing. In all sowings except one in the semi-arid tropics, this value greatly with both location and sowing date, ranging from 0.31 (Indonesia) to 0.58 (subtropical Australia). Using total short-wave solar radiation incident during the growing season and calculated values of thermal time, the growing season for each sowing in each location was described in terms of a photo-thermal quotient (PTQ, MJ m(-2) degree-day(-1)). Values for PTQ ranged from 0.99 (Indonesia) to 2.11 (subtropical Australia). Variation in harvest index could be explained largely by a curvilinear function of PTQ (R-2 = 0.98), provided data were not confounded by the effects of photoperiod. In the semi-arid tropical environment, decreases in the photoperiod associated with delayed sowing were the dominant factor controlling harvest index.