Growth and Performance of Guar Genotypes Under Various Planting Dates in Southern and Eastern New Mexico.

Guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.) is a drought tolerant legume that can be an alternative crop in desert southwest including New Mexico.  A two-year field study was conducted in 2014-2015 to evaluate the yield performance of various guar genotypes under different planting dates in southern and eastern parts of New Mexico. The mid-June planting of guar lines resulted in comparatively better stand establishment, higher plant height, higher seed yield and yield attributing characteristics as compared to other plantings at Las Cruces in southern New Mexico. Performance of guar genotypes varied with planting time. In late-April and mid-May plantings, NMSU-15-G1 produced maximum seed yield, while in the mid-June and early-July plantings, Matador and Lewis had highest seed yield, respectively. Comparing planting dates within genotypes, NMSU-15-G1 consistently had higher seed yield in first three plantings than in early-July planting; while Matador had higher seed yield in the mid-June planting compared to the other plantings. When compared at Clovis in eastern New Mexico, the mid-June planting of guar consistently had taller plants better stand establishment and higher plant above ground dry biomass than July plantings. Higher seed yield and yield attributing characteristics of guar were also observed under June planting than under July plantings. The genotypes did not show any significant variation in their performance at Clovis. Results indicate mid-June as the most optimum time for planting guar in southern and eastern New Mexico.