Comparative analysis of wheat varieties and mulch effects on crop performance

Abstract

The field experiment was undertaken during Rabi season of 2019-20 at Agronomy research farm of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The lay out of experiment was random block design with six wheat varieties (V1- WH 1142, V2- WH 1105, V3- HD 2967, V4- WH 1184, V5- HD 3086 and V6- WH 1124) and three mulch treatments (M1- No mulch, M2- Rice straw mulch @ 6 t/ha and M3- Plastic mulch) having three replications. Wheat variety WH 1142 took more number of days to attain physiological maturity. Quality parameters viz. sedimentation value, protein content (%) and protein yield (kg/ha) were maximum under (M2) rice straw mulch followed by (M3) plastic mulch and (M1) no mulch. Among varieties, highest sedimentation value and protein content were recorded with HD 2967, which was statistically on par with WH 1142. While, highest protein yield reported by variety WH 1142. Sowing of wheat under (M2) rice straw mulch resulted in significantly higher yield attributes resulting in 29.75, 8.16, 5.36 and 27.71 per cent higher grain yield, attraction index and harvest index, respectively than (M1) no mulch. Among wheat varieties, there was significant variation in terms of yield attributes because of varietal characteristics. Highest grain yield (5466 kg/ha) and biological yield (15318 kg/ha) were obtained from WH 1142. The highest attraction index (68.09%) and harvest index (40.46%) was attained by WH 1105.