PJB-2016-272
GROWTH AND YIELD OF RAIN FED WHEAT AS AFFECTED BY DIFFERENT TILLAGE SYSTEMS INTEGRATED WITH GLYPHOSATE HERBICIDE
SAFDAR ALI1*, MUHAMMAD AZIM MALIK1, MUHAMMAD NAVEED TAHIR1 AND MUHAMMAD AZAM KHAN
Abstract
In rainfed areas, tillage is primarily done for moisture conservation and weed control. However, excessive tilling not only harms the soil health but also increases the cost of production. To find out the sustainable and economical tillage combination, response of wheat was studied under different tillage systems integrated with glyphosate herbicide through field experiments conducted at University Research Farm of Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan during 2012-2014 for two consecutive seasons. Principal component analysis proved that the plant height, biological yield, grain yield and harvest index of wheat were highest in treatment where one moldboard plowing was done followed by eight cultivations without using glyphosate in fallow period, which might be due to vigorous growth of wheat in this tillage system having enhanced root proliferation and moisture conservation, thus allowing plants to extract more nutrients and water from the deeper soil layers; whereas, the number of tillers per square meter, number of spikelets per spike, 1000 grain weight and number of grains per spike of wheat were maximum where one moldboard plowing was done followed by two applications of glyphosate herbicide in fallow period, which might be due to vigorous growth of wheat in this tillage system during 1st year of experiment when unexpected high rainfall was occurred during crop growth stage. Cluster analysis also categorized these two treatments into same category on the base of all agronomic parameters studied. The highest yield (3.5132 t ha-1) and (3.1242 t ha-1) was obtained from where one moldboard plowing was done following eight cultivations without using glyphosate followed by the treatment where one moldboard plowing was done following four cultivations without using glyphosate, respectively and were statistically at par with each other. Therefore one moldboard plowing following four cultivations is recommended for taking higher and economical yield in Pothwar Region of Pakistan.
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