Abstract
Abstract Rice (Oryza sativa L.)-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the predominant cropping system of North Indian region. Due to continuous following of rice-wheat cropping system every year, weed infestation particularly in wheat, has emerged a major problem resulting in reduced wheat yield and nutrient mining. Integration of suitable planting methods, along with effective weed control measures, can reduce the weed infestation and nutrient mining from the soil and can enhance available plant nutrients in the soil. To evaluate the influence of different planting techniques and weed control practices in wheat on available plant nutrients in soil, a field study was conducted at the department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (India) for two consecutive years. The treatments comprised of five planting techniques: conventional tillage, zero till sowing without rice stubbles, zero till sowing in standing rice stubbles , zero till sowing after partial burning of rice stubbles and bed planting and five weed control treatments i.e. clodinafop 60 g/ha, clodinafop 60 g/ha fb 2, 4-D 0.5 kg/ha, sulfosulfuron 25 g/ha, mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron 12 g/ha and unweeded (control). The experiment was conducted in split plot design with planting methods in the main plot and herbicidal treatments in the sub plot with three replications. The results of the study showed that zero till sowing of wheat in standing rice stubbles observed significantly higher soil organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than conventional till wheat sowing after removal of rice residues. Although partial burning of rice stubbles also showed positive trend in soil organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium but retort was less distinct than rice stubbles without burning. Further, zero tillage alone also showed improvement in soil organic carbon and available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium over conventional tillage. Application of herbicides did not diverge soil organic carbon, but significantly improved the available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content in soil than the unweeded (control).
Highlights
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the major cereal crops grown in the world
The soil was low in available nitrogen with 230 kg/ha, but it was medium in organic carbon with 4.2 g/kg, available phosphorus with 18.6 kg/ha and potassium with 150 kg/ha
Less variation was observed in organic carbon at 15-30 cm soil layer, but zero tillage systems were better than conventional tillage and bed planting, but the differences were not significant
Summary
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the major cereal crops grown in the world. India has reached the prestigious position in the world in wheat production due to the innovation of high yielding dwarf genotypes, improved fertilization plant protection measures and irrigation facilities coupled with scientific research. Due to following same rice-wheat cropping system every year, wheat is infested by diverse weed flora including both grass and broadleaf weeds, causing yield reduction of 15-40 percent depending upon category and strength of their incursion (Jat et al 2004). Different planting methods creates different micro-climatic conditions which may not favor the weed germination and growth. Sowing of wheat under zero till conditions reduced the infestation of grass weeds, whereas, the population of broadleaf weeds was enhanced (Brar and Walia 2007). Bed planning of wheat providing another type of ecology reduced the infestation and nutrient uptake by weeds (Brar and Walia 2009). Weeds behaved differently under different load of surface rice residues (Brar and Walia 2010). Regarding the chemical control of weeds, isoproturon and 2, 4-D were most commonly
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