Effect of Different Tillage and Weed Management Practices on Growth Indices of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in Central Plains of UP: Toward Sustainable Climate Smart Production

Abstract

The Experiment took place over two back-to-back Rabi (winter) seasons, specifically 2022-23 and 2023-24, at the Students Instructional Farm of Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, located in Kanpur (U.P.). The study was structured using a split-plot design featuring three tillage methods in the main plots, namely, Zero tillage (T1), Reduced tillage (T2), and Conventional tillage (T3). The sub-plots comprised six weed management practices, namely: Pyroxasulfone @ 120 g/ha as pre-emergence followed by Clodinafop-propargyl @ 60 g/ha as post-emergence at 35 DAS (W1), Pendimethalin @ 1000 g/ha + Metribuzin @ 210 g/ha as pre-emergence (W2), Clodinafop-propargyl @ 60 g/ha + Metsulfuron-methyl @ 4 g/ha as post-emergence at 35 DAS (W3), Pinoxaden @ 50 g/ha + Carfentrazone-ethyl @ 20 g/ha as post-emergence at 35 DAS (W4),Weed free (W5), and Weedy check (Control) (W6). A field experiment was conducted to assess the influence of different tillage and weed management practices on growth indices of wheat (Triticumaestivum L.). An experiment was done to evaluate the impact of tillage and weed management conditions on growth indices of wheat growth, such as plant height, leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate (RGR), and net assimilation rate (NAR). Tillage had a significant effect on plant height and CGR at all the growth stages. Peak plant height was measured under zero tillage (21.84, 55.93, 73.83 and 79.18 under 30, 60, 90 DAS and harvest respectively) and was closely followed by reduced tillage and conventional tillage returned the lowest values. Plant height, LAI, CGR and NAR were also greatly influenced by weed management. Weed-free plots (22.27, 57.93, 74.93, 79.87 cm; LAI 1.43, 5.21, 5.20).. CGR was maximum in low and no tillage and in weed-free plot or clodinafop + metsulfuron but there was no significant difference in RGR between the tillage or weed management treatments. NAR was optimal in less tillage and clodinafop + metsulfuron. The interaction effect of tillage and weed control on all the growth indices were not significant. The findings demonstrate the advantage of conservation tillage with good herbicidal management of weeds in streamlining wheat growth and the efficiency of resource utilization.