Back to Contents

FREE FULL TEXT PDF

PHENOLOGY AND CROP STAND OF WHEAT AS AFFECTED BY NITROGEN SOURCES AND TILLAGE SYSTEMS

AHMAD KHAN, MOHAMMAD TARIQ JAN, MUHAMMAD ARIF, KHAN BAHADAR MARWAT AND AMANULLAH JAN

Abstract: Phenology and crop stand are the important determinant which fix crop growth cycle and directly or indirectly affect crop productivity. In Pakistan, the conventional tillage practices are used for the production of wheat since long ago. The present concern about the environmental pollution due to the intensive tillage practices and high inorganic fertilization is an important issue. Field experiments were conducted at Agricultural Research Farm of NWFP Agricultural University Peshawar Pakistan during winter 2005-07 in Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design with split plot arrangement having three replications. Twelve treatments of N, farmyard manure (FYM) and soybean residue (SR) management were arranged in subplots and three tillage practices [deep tillage (DT), conventional tillage (CT) and minimum tillage (MT)] in main plots. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of N sources under different tillage systems on wheat. The MT plots took less days to emergence, boot, anthesis, milk and maturity stages than CT and DT. Both MT and CT proved superior in terms of plant height as well as crop stand i.e. emergence m-2 and tiller m-2 as compared to DT and were statistically at par with each other. Likewise, among the N sources, FYM application @ of 20 tons ha^-1 combined with 60 kg N ha-1 delayed phenology, but improved crop stand and plant height compared to all other treatments followed by 20 tons FYM ha^-1 combined with 30 kg N ha^-1. It is concluded that FYM application in combination with minimum N (30 or 60 kg N ha^-1) is an alternative and sustainable practice for improving crop growth and stand.

NWFP Agricultural University Peshawar, 25000, Pakistan