Physiological traits and yield of wheat cultivars as influenced by establishment methods and weed management practices.

摘要

Studies were carried out during the winter seasons of 2008-09 and 2009-10 to evaluate the influence of establishment methods and weed management practices on physiological traits and yield of wheat cultivars at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India. The experiment was laid out in split plot design taking three crop establishment methods, furrow irrigated raised bed system (FIRBS), convential tillage (CT) and zero till (ZT) in main plots and three wheat cultivars, WH 711, WH 1022 and PBW 343 in sub-plots and three weed management practices, application of clodinafop fb metsulfuron @ 60 & 4 g/ha (C fb M), weedy check and weed free in sub-sub-plots replicated four times. The results revealed that establishment methods, wheat cultivars and weed management practices significantly affected weed populations and their dry weight, physiological traits and yield of wheat. Weed populations and their dry weight decreased significantly in FIRBS and ZT established crop and cultivar PBW 343. Application of C fb M was as effective as hand weeding in controlling weeds. Sowing of wheat on FIRBS, use of cultivar PBW 343 and control of weeds by C fb M resulted in higher leaf area index (LAI), leaf area duration (LAD) and crop growth rate (CGR) as compared to other treatments. The grain yield of wheat was higher in FIRBS than ZT and CT, in cultivar PBW 343 than WH 711 and WH 1022 and by the application of C fb M than weedy check. The interaction between establishment methods x weeding management practices and establishment methods x wheat cultivars was significant. The results revealed that application of C fb M in the crop planted on FIRBS provided effective control of weeds comparable to hand weeding in the crop planted either on FIRBS or ZT and CT. Cultivar PBW 343 produced highest grain yield under FIRBS and CT, whereas cultivar WH 711 performed better under ZT. The results revealed that among the physiological traits, LAI was the most critical trait influencing grain yield of wheat through its effect on LAD, CGR and biomass.