The sowing date of oilseed [winter (rabi) season] crop changes from year to year based on the harvesting of the preceding sown (rainy (kharif) season) crop in the northern regions of India, which exposes the crop to varying weather situations. So, to investigate the impact of sowing environments on growth, yield attributes and yield of gobhi sarson (Brassica napus L.) cultivars, an experiment was conducted with the 3 sowing environments and 3 cultivars under sub-tropical conditions of Jammu during the winter (rabi) season of 2018–19 and 2019–20. The pooled data of two years revealed that the early sown gobhi sarson crop recorded significantly highest growth parameters (plant height, leaf area index and dry matter accumulation) and yield attributes (number of primary and secondary branches/plant, siliquae/ plant and seeds/siliqua) as compared to the delayed sown crop. With the result (source sink relationship), significantly higher seed yield was recorded under the first sowing environment (1758 kg/ha) sown crop, while significant reduction to the extent of 27.66% and 66.95% was recorded with delayed sowing, D2 (1377 kg/ha) and D3 (1053 kg/ha), respectively. The cultivar GSL-1 recorded significantly higher plant height, LAI, dry matter, primary and secondary branches/plant, siliquae/plant, seeds/silique, followed by ONK-1 and DGS-1, resulting in significantly higher yield of GSL-1 (1493 kg/ha) over DGS-1 (1262 kg/ha) but at par with ONK-1 (1432 kg/ha).

Nitrogen management in crop/cropping system plays a significant role to enhance crop growth and productivity in sustainable manner. To ensure sustained soil fertility, optimal crop growth and productivity in subsequent growing seasons, it is necessary to consider the residual effect of N management on moong (Vigna radiata L.). Therefore, a field experiment was conducted for two consecutive years (2019–20 and 2020–21) to evaluate the effect of organic and inorganic sources of nutrition with/without residue retention applied to preceding crops on growth and productivity of succeeding moong. Fourteen treatments applied to preceding crops were, T1, 100% N through FYM without residue; T2, 100% N through FYM with residue; T3, 75% N through FYM + 25% RDF without residue; T4, 75% N through FYM + 25% RDF with residue; T5, 50% N through FYM + 50% RDF without residue; T6, 50% N through FYM + 50% RDF with residue; T7, 25% N through FYM + 75% RDF without residue; T8, 25% N through FYM + 75% RDF with residue; T9, 100% RDF + 25% N extra through FYM without residue; T10, 100% RDF + 25% N extra through FYM with residue; T11, 100% RDF without residue; T12, 100% RDF with residue; T13, Cowpea intercropping without fertilizer in maize and residue retention in wheat and; T14, Control. The data revealed that treatment T6 recorded significantly higher growth parameters [plant height (59.7 cm) and dry matter accumulation (469.8 g/m2)] and yield attributes (number of pod/plant (27.4), pod length (8.8 cm) and number of seeds/pod (10.2)] of moong over other treatments but was found at par with T2, T3, T4 and T5 in 2020 and during 2021. Treatment T2 recorded significantly higher growth parameters [plant height (61.3 cm) and dry matter accumulation (478.9 g/m2)] and yield attributes (number of pod/ plant (30.2), pod length (8.9) and number of seeds/pod (10.3)] being at par with T1, T3, T4, T5 and T6 of moong over other treatments. Moreover, due to significant increase in yield attributes, treatment T6 and T2 exhibited significant increase in grain yield of about 62.32 and 62.96%, respectively over control in year 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Agrometeorological indices have a strong correlation with growth, yield attributes and yield of crop and can be effectively used to select suitable cultivar for specific environmental conditions. Therefore, to study the cumulative effect of weather variables in terms of agrometeorological indices on cultivars of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) sown under different sowing environments, field experiments were conducted at the research farm of Agrometeorology section, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir during winter (rabi) season of 2018–19 and 2019–20. The treatments were comprised of 3 sowing environments, viz. 42nd SMW (standard meteorological week), 44th SMW and 46th SMW along with 3 cultivars (GSL-1, ONK-1 and DGS-1) of oilseed rape in factorial randomized block design with 3 replications. The pooled data of 2 years revealed that allthe cultivars of oilseed rape sown in 42nd SMW accumulated higher growing degree days (GDD), photothermal units (PTU) and heliothermal units (HTU) with higher rate of dry matter accumulation in comparison to 44th SMW and 46th SMW sown crop. The agrometeorological indices, viz. GDD, PTU and HTU were significantly positively correlated with growth parameters, yield attributes and yield at vegetative stage, while, PTU and HTU were negatively correlated at reproductive stage of the crop. Due to the significant impact of weather variables, the seed yield of all the oilseed rape cultivars decreased when the sowing was delayed from 42nd SMW to 46th SMW during both the years. Among cultivars, GSL-1 recorded significantly higher seed yield followed by ONK-1 and DGS-1.