Abstract
Mechanically post-harvest puddled rice field has stubbles that often delay timely planting of winter wheat crop. Zero tillage increased the net return by decreasing the unwise tillage operations and labor charges. Keep in view, a randomized complete block design experiment in a split plot arrangement was conducted with four tillage system [conventional tillage, CT; deep tillage, DT; zero tillage with zone disc tiller, ZDT; and happy seeder, HS] in main plots and five nitrogen levels [0, 75, 100, 125, and 150 kg·ha-1] in subplots during 2009 to 2010 and 2010 to 2011 cropping seasons. Results showed that in 2009-10 and 2010-11 grain yield (4.6 Mg·ha-1 and 5.7 Mg·ha-1) in DT and (4.5 Mg·ha-1 and 5.8 Mg·ha-1) in HS were significantly higher compared with CT and ZDT. Significantly, maximum leaf area index (5.18 and 5.24) and crop growth rate (12.14 g·m-2·d-1 and 13.15 g·m-2·d-1) were noted in DT. Grain protein (11.78%) was significantly higher in DT compared with CT, ZDT, and HS during 2009-10 and 2010-11. Total yield (12.4 Mg·ha-1 and 16.4 Mg·ha-1) and grain yield (4.9 Mg·ha-1 and 6.5 Mg·ha-1) at N125 kg·ha-1 while grain protein (13.52%) at N150 kg·ha-1 was significantly higher than other nitrogen levels. Maximum LAI (5.08 and 5.51) and crop growth rate (14.68 g m-2·d-1 and 15.77 g
Highlights
Rice-wheat cropping system has substantial role in world food security and provides about 8% staple grain to the world’s population (Timsina and Connor) [1]
Wheat grain yield in first year of study was significantly higher (4.6 Mg·ha−1) in DT followed by HS (4.5 Mg·ha−1) as compared with CT and ZDT
Maximum grain protein contents were observed in deep tillage and minimum was observed in zero tillage systems (Happy seeder and zone disc tiller) during both the growing seasons
Summary
Rice-wheat cropping system has substantial role in world food security and provides about 8% staple grain to the world’s population (Timsina and Connor) [1]. In South Asia, the area under rice-wheat cropping system is about 13.5 million hectares, which has meaningful role in food self-sufficiency (Saharawat et al.) [2]. In rice-wheat system, wheat yield is stagnant due to long-term use of conventional management practices, which exerts destructive effects on soil productivity and farm economics in post-harvest paddy field (Duxbury et al.) [3]. Conventional tillage system reduces the soil compaction and enhances the nutrient stratification (Boydas and Turgut) [4]. Subsurface soil compaction by conventional tillage decreased both the nutrient and water use efficiencies and reduced the root growth of following wheat (Qamar et al.) [5]. Zero till wheat cultivation after rice is the most productive and resource-conserving technology (Erenstein et al, 2007) [8]; Erenstein and Laxmi) [9], which has been successfully practiced on more than 111 million hectare
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