Effect of different tillage practices and nitrogen level on wheat production under inner terai of Nepal

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the plant height, yield and yield attributes of wheat under different tillage practices and nitrogen level at Dang, Nepal during winter season 2018-19. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with two tillage practices viz. zero tillage and conventional tillage as main plot factor and four level of N viz. 50 kg ha-1, 75 kg ha-1, 100 kg ha-1and 125 kg ha-1 as sub plot factor and each replicated thrice. The result revealed that there is no significant relation between tillage practice and plant height of wheat while N level significantly affect the plant height. 125 kg N ha-1 recorded the highest plant height (110.7 cm). Zero tillage recorded the highest effective tiller m-2 (254) and grain yield (3.3 t ha-1) whereas spike length, grain spike-1, biological yield and harvest index were not significant with tillage practices. Regarding the N level, 125 kg N ha-1 recorded the highest effective spike m-2 (279), spike length (10.6 cm), grain spike-1 (48), thousand grain weight (46.3 g), grain yield (3.6 t ha-1) and biological yield (9.4 t ha-1). 50 kg N ha-1 recorded the highest harvest index (42.9%). The interaction between the tillage practice and nitrogen level showed the significant effect on grain yield and harvest index where as other parameters showed non-significant relation. The zero tillage with 125 kg N ha-1 recorded the highest grain yield (3.9 t ha-1).

Effect of conservation tillage on yield of spring wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i> L.) and soil mineral nitrogen and carbon content

“…The extent of the positive impact of straw-return to the field or residue incorporation into the field and notill soil practice remains a subject of discussion because experiments conducted in different types of soil and climatic conditions have led to unconvincing findings (Han et al, 2020;Pittelkow et al, 2015;Ogle et al, 2012). The present findings indicate that in comparison with CT, the different conservation tillage practices of NTS, CTS and NT considerably improved the agronomic traits of wheat, as confirmed by other researchers (Bartaula et al, 2020;Hirzel et al, 2020;Han et al, 2020;Yang et al, 2016;Farooq et al, 2011;Devita et al, 2007).…”

“…There were multiple factors responsible for the improved wheat agronomic performance. Firstly, soil nutrient accumulation and the availability of nutrients to plants may increase through straw-return or straw incorporation because straw return is essential for plant nutrient return to the soil, this contributes to improved crop production (Bartaula et al, 2020;Zhao et al, 2019). Secondly, wheat-straw includes a considerable amount of organic matter which contributes to the quality of the soil leading to improved crop yield attributes (Yang et al, 2016).…”

Comparative response of sorghum genotypes to varied levels of nitrogen in rice-fallows of North Coastal Region of Andhra Pradesh

“…This might have outcome in increased number of individual grain per panicle and test weight expressed in terms of grain weight per panicle (Goutami et al, 2015). These results were in consonance with the findings of Patil (2013), Mishra et al (2015) and Bartaula et al (2019).…”

Intervention of Climate-Smart Practices in Wheat under Rice-Wheat Cropping System in Nepal

“…The plant population was higher in other treatments over CP, which might be the result of intervention of one or more climate smart practices. Bartaula et al [40] and Khalid et al [26] reported that effective tiller per square meter was higher for zero tillage practice compared to conventional tillage. The higher plant height was observed in the treatments including climate smart interventions compared to CP.…”

“…Difference in TKW was observed as an effect of location and treatment. Several previous studies have shown that TKW is affected by the location, tillage, and N management practices [40,43]. Rieger et al [43] found that no-till system resulted in lower TKW compared to conventional tillage.…”