Promising wheat cultivars for poplar (Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh.) based agroforestry system in semi-arid ecosystem of Northern India

The present study was conducted to evaluate the performance of three wheat varieties under different spacing geometry (3×3, 4×3, 5×3, 6×3, 7×3 and 8×3 m) of already established two-years old poplar plantation during 2018–19. Growth of poplar was found significantly higher in 3×3 m spacing. Growth and yield attributing parameters of wheat varieties (WH1105, HD-2967 and WH-711) were reduced significantly under different spacing geometry of poplar plantation in comparison to sole crop. The maximum grain yield (4.68 t/ha) was recorded in variety HD-2967, followed by WH-711 (4.25 t/ha) in wider spacing (8×3 m) of poplar. On an average, the highest per cent reduction in grain and straw yield over control was recorded in variety WH-1105 (23.9 and 18.2%), followed by WH-711 (16.02 and 17.01%) and HD-2967 (10.7 and 11.69%) under 3×3 m spacing. The rate of decrease in straw yield was comparatively lower than grain yield under different spacing of poplar. The overall reduction in grain and straw yield was more under 3×3 m.