Soil Water Dynamics and Water Productivity of Wheat Under Rice-wheat Cropping System in Water Regimes and Establishment Methods

Abstract

The present investigation entitled “Soil water dynamics and water productivity of wheat crop under rice wheat cropping system in water regimes and establishment methods” was carried out during Rabi at CRC, SVPUA&T, Meerut- 250110 (U.P.), India during Rabi season 2020-21 and 2021-22. The experiment consisting of five tillage practices as main plot; (T1) Reduced tillage with rotavator line sowing, (T2) Reduced tillage with conventional tool line sowing, (T3) Furrow Irrigated Raised Bed, (T4) Conventional tillage with broadcast, (T5) Conventional tillage with line sowing and four irrigation scheduling treatments i.e. (I1) Irrigation at critical stages (CRI), (I2) CRI + IW/CPE 0.8, (I3) CRI + IW/CPE 1.0,(I4) CRI + IW/CPE 1.2 in sub-plots was set up in Split Plot Design with three replication. Plant height, tillers, dry matter accumulation, CGR, RGR, NAR, LAD, and yield attributes, such as spike length, number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spike, and test weight, were all significantly higher under treatment T3 (FIRB) than under any other treatments during the experiment with the exception of T2 (RTC). During both research years, treatment T3 FIRB considerably outperformed other treatments in terms of wheat grain yield and straw yield. In comparison to T4 (CTB), treatment T3 FIRB enhanced water productivity from 0.61 and 0.63 kg grain cm-3 to 1.89 and 1.87 kg grain cm-3, and the average improvement in water use efficiency under T3 FIRB over T4 (CTB) was 51.90 and 47.0 per cent respectively. The grain yield increased by 5.15 and 3.24% under T3 (46.9 & 47.7kg ha-1) over T2 (44.6 & 46.2 kg ha-1) during 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively. The crop establishment techniques that produced the highest net profits was treatment T2 (Rs. 71527 and 77678 ha- 1) respectively, with B:C ratios of 2.04 and 2.26 during both the experiment years. Treatment T3 (FIRB) had the highest per-hectare cultivation costs at Rs. 42508 & 41845. Growth and yield attributes were significantly influenced by irrigation scheduling; however the highest grain yield was obtained under I3 CRI+ IW: CPE 1.0 (46.7& 49.2 kg ha-1), it was at par with I2 CRI+ IW:CPE 0.8 (43.9 & 46.3 kg ha-1) respectively. The average highest net profit (Rs 77814.5 & 83586.5 ha-1) with B: C ratio of 2.25 & 2.47 was recorded in I3. Interaction between crop establishment and irrigation scheduling showed that FIRB along with irrigation scheduling at CRI+IW: CPE 1.0 had maximum net return.