Behaviour of various wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivares at conventional and zero tillage under subtropical conditions of Faisalabad, Pakistan

Abstract

A field experiment to study the effect of tillage practices on the productivity of different wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties was conducted at Government Seed Farm Kalodevi, Gojra, Toba Tak Singh, Pakistan, during 2005 - 2006. The experiment was laid out under Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement and having a four replication in which tillage systems were kept in main plot and wheat varieties were in sub plots. The net plot size was 2.5m x 7m. Experiment was comprised of a following treatment combination i.e; T1 =Zero Tillage with four varieties such as V1 (Bakkhar-2002),V2 (SH-2002),V3(AS- 2002) and V4 (Uqab 2000) and T2 = Conventional Tillage with four varieties such as V1 (Bakkhar-2002), V2 (SII- 2002),V3 (AS- 2002) and V4 (Uqab- 2000).The data on various crop growth and yield attributes were recorded using standard procedures. The yield components like biological yield, grain yield and straw yield were higher in the zero tillage than the conventional tillage. Among the growth parameters such as plant height (cm), number of grains per spike although increased under zero tillage but the difference remained statistically nonsignificant between the conventional and zero tillage. It is concluded from the results that tillage has no significant effect on the varieties to produce the yield greater than each other. So zero tillage can be preferred over the conventional tillage in a cottonwheat cropping system as it will not only allow the planting at proper time but also it will reduce the cost of cultivation. These two factors will add a lot to the final yield which will ultimately result in more profit.