Optimizing Late-sown Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Performance Through Rice Residue and Weed Management Practices in Western U.P.

A field experiment was carried out at the Crop Research Centre (CRC), Chirodi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut (U.P.) for growing season 2020-21 and 2021-22 cropping seasons. The focus of the research was to improve the performance of late-sown wheat by implementing effective rice residue and weed management practices in western Uttar Pradesh.

A split-plot design (SPD) with three replications was employed for the experimental conducted. The study's main plots evaluated four distinct rice residue management strategies: residue burning, residue removal, PUSA decomposer treated residue and Trichoderma treated residue. In sub plots, five weed management practices were assessed: Hand weeding twice at 30 and 45 DAS, sulfosulfuron 75% WG @ 25 g a.i. ha^-1, fenoxaprop-p-ethyl 10% EC @ 0.1 kg a.i. ha^-1 + metsulfuron-methyl 20% WP @ 4 g a.i. ha^-1, brown manuring followed by clodinafop-propargyl 15% WP @ 60 g a.i. ha^-1.

The results indicated that rice residue and weed management practices significantly influenced growth attribute such as plant height, number of tillers per meter row length (pmrl), dry matter, yield attributes and grain yields. Based on the findings, a combination of rice PUSA decomposer treated residue and brown manuring followed by clodinafop-propargyl (15% WP) is recommended for achieving better growth and yield in late-sown wheat.