Comparison of the Fan Design with the Split Plot Design for Spacing Experiments

Abstract

Nelder's design FAN (Systematic design) was compared with the Split Plot design (SPL) for spacing treatments. The field experiments were conducted using cotton IAN 579-188 on the same field. The data on plant height, number of bolls per plant, and cotton yield per plant were collected and used to assess bias in the estimate of treatment means. The results revealed that (i) the comparison FAN vs. SPL showed an underestimation of the treatment means in FAN when area per plant was 900 sq. cm and above and (ii) the rectangularity had some impact on the variables studied. Therefore, FAN design cannot be used for spacing trials on a crop with monopodial growth habit like cotton IAN 579-188.