Effect of different irrigation levels on newly released wheat varieties

Abstract

A field experiment entitled “Effect of different irrigation levels on newly released wheat varieties” was conducted during Rabi 2024-25 at the Instructional-cum-Research Farm, Barrister Thakur Chhedilal College of Agriculture and Research Station, Bilaspur (C.G.). The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three replications, comprising three irrigation levels-I₁: no irrigation, I₂: one irrigation at CRI stage, and I₃: two irrigations at CRI and boot leaf stages-in main plots, and nine wheat genotypes-V₁: UAS(d), V₂: HI8827(d)(C), V₃: MACS(d), V₄: DBW432, V₅: CG1040(c), V₆: HI8851(d), V₇: HI8823(d)(c), V₈: MPO(d), and V₉: DBW110(c)-in subplots. Results revealed that growth parameters such as plant height, number of tillers m⁻², dry matter accumulation, crop growth rate, and relative growth rate, as well as yield-attributing traits including ear length, grains ear⁻¹, test weight, biological yield, grain yield, straw yield, and harvest index were significantly influenced by irrigation levels. The I₃ treatment (two irrigations at CRI and boot leaf stages) recorded the highest values for most traits, statistically at par with I₂, while the lowest values were observed under I₁. Among genotypes, CG1040(c) exhibited superior performance for most growth and yield parameters, followed by MPO(d) and DBW432, whereas HI8827(d)(C) recorded the lowest. Plant population remained non-significant across treatments. The lowest harvest index was observed in DBW110(c).