Winter wheat response in precision nitrogen management and conservation tillage practices under irrigated condition of western India: Effect on soil nutrient availability, physicochemical properties and nutrient use efficiency

Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA) continues to be critical for dealing with interannual fluctuations in climatic conditions, which has an effect on winter wheat production and food security. The aim of this study was to see how different tillage, previous crop and precision nitrogen management affected the agronomic and the economic output of rained winter wheat in a semi-arid environment in Western India. Tillage practices included four crop establishment methods (Zero tillage (ZT), Reduced tillage (RT), Furrow irrigation raised beds (FIRB), Conventional tillage (CT)) in main plot and precision five nitrogen management (F1 – N 80:20 - N rate split as 80% basal and 20% at second irrigation, F2 - N 33:33:33 - N rate split as 33% basal, 33% at CRI stage (20–25 DAS) and 33% at second irrigation (40–45 DAS), F3 - N 80 – LCC - Split as 80% basal and further application of N based on LCC, F4 – N 50:50 - N rate split as 50% basal and 50% at CRI stage and F5 – FFP - farmers fertilization practice) in sub-plot and laid out in split-plot design with three replications. Results revealed that among the nutrient sources wheat use of furrow irrigated raised bed system (FIRB) along with the application of nutrient as N E 80-LCC seems to best combination for achieving higher on soil nutrient availability, good physicochemical Properties and nutrient use efficiency under northwestern plain zone of Uttar Pradesh.