Wheat

Rainfed Wheat Cultivation

Wheat Cultivation under Rain fed Conditions

Wheat Cultivation under Rain fed Conditions

    In the districts of Hoshiarpur, Ropar, Nawanshehr and Gurdaspur, considerable wheat area is rain fed. The recommendations for raising wheat under such conditions are given below:.

    Time of sowing: The following sowing time schedule may be observed for rain fed conditions.

    Period and Varieties

    1. From 4th week of October onwards - PBW 527 and PBW 175.
    2. From 4th week of November onwards - PBW 373 and TL 1210.

    Soils:

  • Light textured soil e.g. sandy to loamy sand usually have low water retention capacity and on such soils, wheat followed by maize gives poor yield.
  • For best results, green manure with sunhemp or cowpea (fodder) during Kharif or keep these soils fallow and take a crop of wheat / wheat-gram mixture with raya rows during rabi.
  • The fertilizers recommended for wheat also hold good for the above mixed cropping.

    • Moisture Conservation:

  • Success of rabi crops in rainfed areas mainly depends on conservation of moisture in soil profile.
  • The practice is locally known as 'gil dabna'.
  • It consists of ploughing and planking the field immediately after the harvest of Kharif crop.
  • The field is generally ploughed in the evening and is planked early in the morning.

    • Termite Control:

  • Termites cause heavy mortality of plants. So adopt relevant control measures.

    • Seed-Rate and Spacing:

  • Use 40 kg of treated seed per acre to cover the risk of poor germination due to inadequate soil moisture in the seed zone and attack of white ants or mortality of seedlings due to early drought.
  • If the soil moisture is good at the sowing time, use 35-40 kg seed and give a row-to-row spacing of 22-25 cm. Increase the row spacing to 25-30 cm if the soil moisture is medium to-low.

    • Time and Method of Sowing:

  • Sow wheat from the last week of October to the 1st week of November preferably with a seed-cum- fertilizer drill. In case the crop stand is poor, i.e. less than 50% of the optimum and the winter rains come before 15th December, re- sow the field with any of the recommended varieties.
  • If the seed zone moisture is inadequate sow seed slightly deeper in moist soil layer (8-10 cm) and increase row spacing to 30 cm.

    • Fertilizer Application:

  • It pays to apply fertilizer to wheat in rainfed areas provided adequate moisture has been stored in the soil profile. In the absence of a soil-test report, apply fertilizer to the medium-fertility soils at the following rates :


    • Soil Type
    Nutrients * (kg/acre)
    Fertilizers (kg/acre)

    Time and method of application
    N
    P2O5
    K2O (***)
    Urea (46% N)
    Super phosphate (16%)
    Muriate of potash (60%)
    Sandy loam to clay loam soils with adequate moisture stored
    32
    16
    12
    70
    100
    20

    Drill half N and full P &K fertilizers at sowing and broadcast remaining half N at winner rains Drill all fertilizers at sowing
    Loamy sand to sandy soils with low moisture stored
    16
    8
    6
    35
    50
    10

    * These nutrients can also be supplied from other fertilizers available in the market
    ** Add potassium only to soils testing low in this nutrient.

    Note: In case soil moisture is less at sowing time use calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer.


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Wheat Management