An experiment was conducted during 2009-10 and 2010-11 at research farm of division of Agronomy, IARI, New Delhi, to study the effect of various doses and methods of zinc application on maize and wheat. The treatment consisted of control, 12.5 kg ZnSO 4 ha-1 , 25 kg ZnSO 4 ha-1 and foliar spray of 0.5 % ZnSO 4 and two wheat Varieties 'DBW 17' and 'PBW 343'. The grain, stover and biological yield of maize were significantly influenced by application of zinc during first year and the maximum yields were recorded with the application of 25 kg ZnSO 4 ha-1 during both the year. During first year application of 25 kg ZnSO 4 , 12.5 ZnSO 4 ha-1 and foliar spray of 0.5 % ZnSO 4 increased grain yield by 22.81, 18.63 and 8.36 percent respectively over control, while 4.10, 2.41 and 1.69% increase in grain yield was recorded during second year. In wheat, application of 25 kg ZnSO 4 ha-1 significantly increased 1000 grain weight during both the years while during second year effective tiller m-2 , grain spike-1 and grain diameter; as compared to the remaining treatment. This treatment increased the number of effective tillers by 6, 10 and 11 percent over the application of 12.5 kg ZnSO 4 ha-1 , foliar spray and control, respectively, during second year. Direct application of zinc to wheat varieties i.e. 'DBW 17' and 'PBW 343' showed significant variation in grain, straw and biological yield and harvest index during both the years. The yield advantage of 0.35, 0.26 and 0.28 and 0.43, 0.13 and 0.29 t ha-1 was recorded with the application of 25 kg ZnSO 4 ha-1 over control, 12.5 kg ZnSO 4 ha-1 and foliar spray, respectively. Highest straw and total biological yields were obtained with the application of 25 kg ZnSO 4 ha-1 .

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The study has attempted evolving suitable cropping patterns for increasing farm income with less use of irrigation water in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The conflict noticed in achieving of both the objectives individually has been addressed by using Sen's Multi Objective Programming (MOP) model. The optimized cropping pattern has sown an increase of 7 per cent in farm income and a reduction of 6 per cent in use of irrigation water. The study has suggested some policy implications for improving agricultural production per drop of water.