Evaluation of wheat (Triticum species) varieties under extra-early sown conditions in Vertisols of Central India with restricted assured irrigation

The present study was conducted during the winter (rabi) seasons of 2012–13, 2013–14 and 2014–15 at Indore for three consecutive years to find out suitable and high-yielding wheat varieties for extra-early sown condition in Central India under restricted period-assured irrigation condition. Treatments consisted of 3 dates of sowing, viz. 5 October, 20 October and 5 November in main plots and ten wheat varieties, viz. ‘HI 8663’, ‘HI 8713’ and ‘HI 8627’ varieties of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. Durum) and ‘HI 1531’, ‘HD 2987’, ‘GW 273’, ‘MP 3288’, ‘Lok 1’, ‘GW 366’ and ‘HI 1544’ varieties of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) as sub-plots, evaluated in split-plot design with 3 replications. Results show the growth and yield attributes, and grain and biological yields observed under 20 October and 5 November were at par but significantly higher than 5 October sowing. On pooled data basis, maximum values of wheat grain yield (4.48 t/ha), gross returns (GR) of 87.6 × 10³/ha and production efficiency (PE) of 33.2 kg/ha/day were recorded under 20 October but the highest plant height, biological yield (12.0 t/ha), net returns (NE) of 40.9 × 10³/ha, benefit: cost (B: C) ratio of 1.90, water-use efficiency (WUE) of 22.3 kg/ha-mm and net monetary use-efficiency (NMUE) of 303.2/ha/day were observed under 5 November sowing. Extra-early sowing (5 October) resulted in the lowest values of yields and other economical parameters but recorded the highest values of 1,000-grain weight (49.4 g) and harvest index (40.9). Durum wheat variety HI 8713 was found to be most promising and gave the highest wheat grain yield of 4.61 t/ha, GR of 88.8 × 10³/ha, NR of 41.6 × 10³/ha, B: C ratio of 1.88, PE 34.1 kg/ha/day and NMUE of 308.4/ha/day, which were closely followed by bread wheat variety ‘HI 1544’ (because of highest yield in 5 November sowing) and durum wheat variety ‘HI 8663’. The results indicated that sowing of wheat on 5 October under extra-early condition was not beneficial despite receiving extra irrigation, and that durum varieties ‘HI 8713’ and ‘HI 8663’ under early-sown (20 October) and bread wheat variety ‘HI 1544’ under timely sown (5 November) conditions hold promise for realizing higher and economical wheat productivity under restricted period assured irrigated conditions in Vertisols of Central India.