Wheat productivity influenced by time of sowing, cultivars and bio regulators

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted on sandy loam soil of the Instructional Farm, College of Agriculture, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner during consecutive two rabi seasons of 2012-13 and 2014-15. The experiment consisted two sowing dates i.e., 20th November (timely) and 15th December (late) and four wheat cultivars viz., Raj 4083, Raj 3765, Raj 4120 and Raj 1482 in main plots and in sub plots two foliar sprays (at 45 and 75 DAS) of bioregulators namely N- acetyl- L- cysteine (20 ppm), salicylic acid (200ppm) and water spray control (WSC). The results reveal that sowing the wheat cultivars on 20th November (timely) significantly increased yield attributes namely number of effective tillers m-1 row length, number of grains per spike, spike length and test weight also recorded significantly higher in timely sown wheat cultivars compared to late sown crop. Further results indicated that grain, straw and biological yields improved significantly in timely sown wheat. The increases was to the tune of 14.53, 8.80 and 11.20 per cent, respectively compared to late sowing condition. The spike m-1 row length, test weight, seed, straw and biological yields were significantly higher in wheat cultivar Raj 4120 compared to Raj 4083, Raj 3765 and Raj 1482. Foliar spray of bioregulators viz., N-acetyl-L-cysteine (20 ppm) and Salicylic acid (200 ppm) significantly increased above mentioned parameters.