SUMMARYField experiments made for 4 years between 1976–7 and 1979–80 in a semi-arid environment of north-west India showed that the productivity of dryland unirrigated wheat can be increased considerably by adjusting the date of sowing to conducive atmospheric temperatures. Sowing in the middle of November when daily mean temperatures ranged between 19 and 21 °C produced yields ranging between 2·6and 3·5t/ha (averaged over the 4 years) compared with 1·4–3·3 t/ha obtained from the crop sown by mid-October when the daily mean temperature ranged between 24 and 26 °C. The tall cultivar C 306, a derivative of winter x spring wheat cross, could withstand sowing at higher temperatures (mid-October) more than the spring wheats. High temperatures prevailing during the seedling stage of spring wheats shortened their vegetative growth and initiated early differentiation. Night temperatures above 13 °C coupled with day temperatures of 33–35 °C in the last fortnight of October adversely affected the tillering of spring wheats sown on 15 October and produced smaller spikes with few fertile spikelets.
Experiments made for 4 years in the seasonally dry period of the monsoon environment of north-west India showed that the application of farmyard manure (FYM) with the onset of monsoon rains (in early July) was more advantageous for the growth and yield of wheat than its application at the end of the monsoon season in mid-September. Fertilizer N drilled into the soil with the cessation of rains was better utilized by wheat than that applied at sowing in mid-November. A combination of the organic matter and urea was better than their application separately. N, P and K removal by the wheat crop was significantly increased by FYM and urea application. The time of their application influenced the nutrient removal by the crop in the same way as it affected its growth and yield.
SUMMARYExperiments made under dryland conditions in the post-monsoon period for 3 years showed that deep placement of N and P fertilizers at 12 or 18 cm led to better utilization than their shallow placement at 6 cm. Grain yield was maximal when the fertilizer was placed at 18 cm depth. The yield increase by deep fertilizer placement resulted from higher tiller survival till harvest. In these treatments water use efficiency and mineralizable N content in soil were higher.Of the two varieties tested the taller cultivar (C 306) yielded more in normal years but lodging due to a severe storm in one of the years reduced its yield considerably. While the yield of the tall variety was not much affected by variations in row distances, the dwarf (DL 153–2) responded to these variations and greatest yield was obtained at a row distance of 27·5 cm.
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