TITLE:
Growth and Economic Assessment of Wheat under Tillage and Nitrogen Levels in Rice-Wheat System
AUTHORS:
Rafi Qamar, Ehsanullah, Abdul Rehman, Amjed Ali, Abdul Ghaffar, Athar Mahmood, Hafiz Muhammad Rashad Javeed, Mudassir Aziz
KEYWORDS:
Leaf Area Index; Grain Yield; Protein Content; Net Return; Wheat
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.4 No.11,
November
13,
2013
ABSTRACT: Mechanically
post-harvest puddled rice field has stubbles that often delay timely planting
of winter wheat crop. Zero tillage increased the net return by decreasing the
unwise tillage operations and labor charges. Keep in view, a randomized
complete block design experiment in a split plot arrangement was conducted with
four tillage system [conventional tillage, CT; deep tillage, DT; zero tillage
with zone disc tiller, ZDT; and happy seeder, HS] in main plots and five nitrogen
levels [0, 75, 100, 125, and 150 kg·ha-1] in subplots during 2009 to
2010 and 2010 to 2011 cropping seasons. Results showed that in 2009-10 and
2010-11 grain yield (4.6 Mg·ha-1 and 5.7 Mg·ha-1) in DT
and (4.5 Mg·ha-1 and 5.8 Mg·ha-1) in HS were
significantly higher compared with CT and ZDT. Significantly, maximum leaf area index (5.18 and 5.24) and
crop growth rate (12.14 g·m-2·d-1 and 13.15 g·m-2·d-1) were noted in DT. Grain protein
(11.78%) was significantly higher in DT compared with CT, ZDT, and HS during
2009-10 and 2010-11. Total yield (12.4 Mg·ha-1 and 16.4 Mg·ha-1)
and grain yield (4.9 Mg·ha-1 and 6.5 Mg·ha-1) at N125 kg·ha-1 while grain protein (13.52%) at N150 kg·ha-1 was significantly higher than other nitrogen levels. Maximum LAI (5.08 and 5.51) and crop growth rate (14.68 g m-2·d-1 and 15.77 g