Influence of tillage and nutrient management on productivity and profitability of wheat (Triticum aestivum)

A field experiment was conducted during the winter (rabi) seasons of 2012-13 to 2015-16 at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, to study the effects of tillage and nutrient management on performance of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The experiment was laid out in a strip-plot design with 3 tillage treatments, conventional tillage (CT) without chiseling, chiseling followed by CT and chiseling followed by rotavator) and 3 nutrient-management options [100% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), combined application of 100% RDF along with FYM @ 15 tonnes/ha and 125% RDF combined with FYM). Results showed that, inclusion of chiseling either before disk harrowing or rotavator in tillage along with application of 125% RDF of nutrients and FYM efficiently improved the soil properties, viz. decrease in bulk density (by 0.14 Mg/m³), penetration resistance (by 1.05 MPa) and pH (by 0.15) and increase in infiltration rate (by 0.8 cm/h), organic carbon (by 0.06%), available P₂O₅ and K₂O content (by 3.2 kg/ha and 45.8 kg/ha and dehydrogenage activity (by 116 units) compared with the initial status. This tillage and nutrient management combination resulted in superior growth attributes, viz. plant height, dry-matter, leaf-area index (LAI), crop-growth rate (CGR), leaf chlorophyll content, tillering along with higher grain yield (5.4 t/ha). Similarly, treatments 100% RDF + FYM and 125% RDF + FYM recorded 114 and 128% higher grain yield, respectively, over application of only RDF.