Effect of Sowing Dates and Varieties on Yield and Quality Performance of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

A field experiment conducted during Rabi season of 2017-18 at wheat research farm of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India to study the effect of sowing dates and varieties on yield and quality performance of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications containing four sowing dates viz. 5th November, 25th November, 15th December and 5th January as main plot treatments and seven wheat varieties i.e. HS 562, HD 2967, HD 3086, HI 1544, MACS 6222, WR 544 and WH 1105 as sub plot treatments. On the basis of one year study it was concluded that among sowing dates, 5th November sowing is the most economical and suitable than rest of the sowing dates. 5th November sown crop recorded significantly longer spike (11.7 cm), higher number of effective tillers (98.3 per mrl), grains per spike (48.6), test weight (39.9 g), grain appearance score (8.3), hectoliter weight (82.9 kg/hl), grain yield (5432 kg ha-1) and harvest index (39.0%) compared to rest of the sowing dates, while highest protein content (12.9 %) was observed with 5th January sown crop. Maximum net return (Rs.54, 262 ha-1) and B: C (1.73) were recorded with 5th November sowing. Among the varieties, HI 1544 recorded significantly higher number of effective tillers (94.6 per mrl), grains per spike (48.4), test weight (38.6 g), grain yield (4920 kg ha-1) harvest index (39.2), grain appearance score (8.1) and hectoliter weight (82.0 kg/hl), while variety WH 1105 resulted in longer spike (11.5 cm) and WR 544 in higher protein content (12.6 %) as compared to rest of the varieties. While comparing the interaction of varieties with date of sowing, HI 1544 produced significantly higher grain higher yield (6007 kg ha-1) of wheat sown at 5th November which was statistically at par with WH 1105 (5833 kg ha-1) and HD 3086 (5616 kg ha-1) at same date of sowing. Delayed sowing of HI 1544 from 5th November to 25th November reduced the grain yield by 9.1 per cent; to 15th of December by 21.0 per cent and to 5th January by 42.3 per cent.