Agronomic Performance and Chemical Composition of Wheat Td-1 As Affected By Planting Methods

Abstract

t: Wheat planting on beds is an alternative, to traditional wheat planting where by the nutrients and irrigation water can be efficiently and economically utilized to achieve yield targets fulfilling the increasing demand of the country. The field experiment evaluated the effect of different planting methods (i.e. ridge, raised and flat bed) on growth, yield and nutrient uptake of wheat TD-1. The ridges were 22.86 cm high, 45.72 cm wide with 25.60 cm furrow spacing. Similarly, the raised beds were 14.35 cm high, 60.96 cm wide with 25.12 cm furrow spacing. The field experiment was set in a completely randomized block design with 3 replications. The NPK (180-110-65 kg N, P2O5 and K2O kg ha-1) was applied in the form of urea, di-ammonium phosphate and sulfate of potash. The wheat grown under different planting methods significantly enhanced the growth, wheat yield and nutrient (NPK) uptake by plant and were in the order raised bed>ridge>flat bed. The raised beds produced 12% more yield, 19 and 20 % more N and K uptake over flat beds, which further reduced to half for yield (5%), N (10%) and K (9%) uptake under ridge sowing over flat bed. In case of P uptake, there was 35% increase by raised beds and 22% by ridges over flat beds. However, these differences were too small to be significant. There was positive and significant (p<0.01) relationship between grain yield and NPK uptake (R2 = 0.984, 0.86 and 0.985) by wheat. Future studies on bed planting, including the flow of irrigation water will complete the essence of this study.