Effect of spacing and thinning date on the yield of broadcast nakati

138 C.K. SSEKABEMBE & T. L. ODONG
significantly but the number <strong>of</strong> filled grains per panicle
decreased significantly, indicating the compensatory
relationship between these traits. At the lower seeding
rate there is an increase in the number <strong>of</strong> filled grains per
panicle which compensates for the lower panicle density
(Gravois <strong>and</strong> Helms, 1992). Similarly, uniculm barley lines
in Australia have more spikelets per ear than the tillering
varieties but they tended to set fewer grains per spikelet
<strong>and</strong> produced smaller kernels (McDonald, 1990). However,
it is not true that grain yield components are always
mutually compensatory as the case in the above examples.
In the case <strong>of</strong> nakati, studies on yield components
seem to be lacking, which is partly attributed to limited
research on this crop (Rubaihayo, 1994; Schippers, 2000).
Nonetheless, the present study showed that although both
‘setting’ <strong>and</strong> no <strong>thinning</strong> resulted in less reject per plant
(8.7 g per plant on average) than the <strong>thinning</strong> <strong>date</strong> x <strong>spacing</strong>
treatment combinations (an average <strong>of</strong> 21.2 g per plant),
the former resulted in a significantly (P