Cost-Benefit Analysis of Irrigation and Nitrogen Scheduling in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Cultivation

Field experiment was conducted to study the effect of irrigation and nitrogen scheduling on cost of cultivation, net return and benefit cost ratio of wheat crop, at Department of Agriculture, Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh sahib, Punjab, India, during rabi season of 2019-20. The gross return, net return and B: C ratio was maximum under the irrigation schedule I₄-irrigation at CRI, tillering, flowering and milking stage fb I₃-Irrigation at CRI, tillering and late jointing stage and significantly superior to other treatments. Minimum gross return, net return and B: C ratio was in irrigation schedule I₁-irrigation at CRI. Among nitrogen splits, results revealed that the maximum gross return, net return and B: C ratio in N₃-Four splits of nitrogen fb N₂-three splits of nitrogen was significantly superior over N₁-two splits of nitrogen. Higher yield of crop with proper moisture and nutrient availability gave better economic returns of the crop as compared to the treatments where moisture was insufficient at critical stages.