Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T09:14:36.628Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

EFFECTS OF TILLAGE INTENSITY, PLANTING TIME AND NITROGEN RATE ON WHEAT YIELD FOLLOWING RICE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2010

V. K. ARORA ,
A. S. SIDHU ,
K. S. SANDHU  and
S. S. THIND
V. K. ARORA*
Affiliation:
Department of Soils, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana - 141004 (Pb.), India
A. S. SIDHU
Affiliation:
Department of Soils, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana - 141004 (Pb.), India
K. S. SANDHU
Affiliation:
Department of Soils, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana - 141004 (Pb.), India
S. S. THIND
Affiliation:
Department of Soils, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana - 141004 (Pb.), India
*
†Corresponding author. vkaro58@yahoo.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Puddling coarse-textured soils for rice culture in the irrigated tract of the Indo-Gangetic Plains causes high soil strength in the upper layers. This may adversely affect growth and yield of following upland crops. It is possible that no-tillage (NT) in wheat (without residues of preceding rice crop) could aggravate this problem and reduce fertilizer nitrogen (N) use efficiency. In certain production scenarios, NT has been reported to be advantageous because it allows for earlier planting of wheat by eliminating delays caused by tillage. This study examined the combined effects of two crop establishment options for wheat in relation to fertilizer N and planting time following puddled rice cultivation in an irrigated environment of Punjab, northwest India. Combinations of two establishment systems, NT-direct planting and conventional-tillage (CT) with soil disruption to 0.10 m depth in main plots, with two N rates, 120 and 150 kg ha−1 in subplots, were evaluated. Variation in planting time, 31 October (D1) and 7 and 10 November (D2), was used to evaluate effect of planting-earliness. Under D1 in NT, grain yield of wheat was comparable to that under D2 in CT. However, under no advancement of wheat planting in NT, grain yield was 0.2–0.3 t ha−1 less than that in CT. This yield reduction in NT could be overcome by adding 30 kg ha−1 more fertilizer N suggesting that tillage enhanced N use efficiency. These tillage gains are ascribed to the greater extraction of profile stored and applied water and nutrients because of denser crop rooting caused by reduction in soil strength and less weed competition. Higher N use efficiency in CT suggests that farmers could achieve fertilizer N savings with this system. Comparing the tillage systems showed that NT was more cost-effective than CT even after accounting for the cost of additional fertilizer N (saving of Rs. 1685 ha−1) to overcome associated yield penalties under no advancement in planting time.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 46 , Issue 3 , July 2010 , pp. 267 - 275
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bennie, A. T. P. and Botha, F. J. P. (1986). Effect of deep tillage and controlled traffic on root growth, water use efficiency and yield of irrigated maize and wheat. Soil Tillage Research 7: 85–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhattacharyya, R., Kundu, S., Pandey, S. C., Singh, K. P. and Gupta, H. S. (2008). Tillage and irrigation effects on crop yields and soil properties under rice-wheat system in the Indian Himalayas. Agricultural Water Management 95: 993–1002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buhler, D. D., Doll, J. D., Proost, R. T. and Visocky, M. R. (1995). Integrating mechanical weeding with reduced herbicide use in conservation tillage corn production systems. Agronomy Journal 87: 507–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaudhary, M. R., Khera, R. and Singh, C. J. (1991). Tillage and irrigation effects on growth, soil water depletion and yield of wheat following rice. Journal of Agricultural Sciences Cambridge 116:9–16.Google Scholar
Erenstein, O. (2009). Adoption and impact of conservation-agriculture-based resource conservation technologies in Asia. In Proceedings 4th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture (Lead Papers), New Delhi. 439–444.Google Scholar
Erenstein, O. and Laxmi, V. (2008). Zero tillage impacts in India's rice-wheat systems: A review. Soil Tillage Research 100: 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gajri, P. R., Arora, V. K. and Prihar, S. S. (1992). Tillage management for efficient water and nitrogen use in wheat following rice. Soil Tillage Research 24: 167–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gajri, P. R., Arora, V. K. and Prihar, S. S. (2002). Tillage for Sustainable Cropping. New York: Haworth Press Inc.Google Scholar
Gajri, P. R. and Prihar, S. S. (1985). Rooting, water use and yield relations in wheat on loamy sand and sandy loam soils. Field Crops Research 12: 115–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gangwar, K. S., Singh, K. K., Sharma, S. K. and Tomar, O. K. (2006). Alternative tillage and crop residue management in wheat after rice in sandy loam soils of Indo-Gangetic plains. Soil Tillage Research 88: 242–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, P. R. and Gupta, R. K. (2003). Resource-conserving technologies for wheat in the rice-wheat system. In Improving the Productivity and Sustainability of Rice-wheat Systems: Issues and Impacts. 149–171. American Society of Agronomy Special publication 65, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.Google Scholar
Keeney, D. R. and Nelson, D. W. (1982). Nitrogen: inorganic forms. In Methods of Soil Analysis Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties, 643–698. (Eds. Page, A. L., Miller, R. H., and Keeney, D. R.), Madison, Wisconsin, USA: ASA-CSSA-SSSA.Google Scholar
Laxmi, V., Erenstein, O. and Gupta, R. K. (2007). Impact of Zero Tillage in India's Rice-Wheat Systems. New Delhi: CIMMYT and RWC.Google Scholar
Ortiz-Monasterio, J. I., Dhillon, S. S. and Fischer, R. A. (1994). Date of sowing effects on grain yield and yield components of irrigated spring wheat cultivars and relationship with radiation and temperature in Ludhiana, India. Field Crops Research 37: 169–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rahman, M. A., Chikushi, J., Saifizzaman, M. and Lauren, J. G. (2005). Rice straw mulching and nitrogen response of no-till wheat following rice in Bangladesh. Field Crops Research 91: 71–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rao, S. C. and Dao, T. H. (1992). Fertilizer placement and tillage effects of nitrogen assimilation by wheat. Agronomy Journal 84: 1028–1032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sawhney, J. S., Verma, V. K., Sharma, B. D. and Sharma, P. K. (1992). Pedogenesis in relation to physiography in semi-arid and arid tracts of Punjab, India. Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation 6: 93–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, P., Tripathi, R. P. and Singh, S. (2005). Tillage effects on soil physical properties and performance of rice-wheat cropping system under shallow water table conditions of Tarai, Northern India. European Journal of Agronomy 23: 327–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steel, R. G. D, and Torrie, J. A. (1980). Principles and Procedures of Statistics. McGraw-Hill, 2nd ed., New York, USA.Google Scholar
Sur, H. S., Prihar, S. S. and Jalota, S. K. (1981). Effect of rice-wheat and maize-wheat rotation on water transmission and wheat root development in a sandy loam soil of Punjab, India. Soil Tillage Research 1: 361–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verma, U. N., Sinha, M. K. and Srivastava, V. C. (1991). Effects of tillage and nitrogen management in late sown wheat after transplanted rice. Indian Journal Agricultural Sciences 61: 795–798.Google Scholar