Yield and Water Balance Components in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) as Influenced by Management Practices: Field and Simulation Study

Abstract

This study focuses on (i) computing water balance components and wheat yield under different management interventions under field conditions and (ii) simulating water balance components for different soil series in Ludhiana district employing past meteorological data. Field results showed that the yield of November 5 (D2) sown wheat was higher than sown at October 20 (D1) and November 20 (D3). Mean potential yield of PBW 550 was more (9%) than that of PBW 621. Averaged over the cultivar and irrigation regime, evapotranspiration (ET) was 85 mm more in D1 than D2 and D3, but drainage was more in D3 compared to D1 and D2. Water balance components in both cultivars were comparable except drainage, which was higher in PBW 550 due to its shorter crop period. Water use efficiency (WUE) in D2 was more by 40 and 61 per cent than D1 and D3, respectively. Simulation with CERES–Wheat model point out that grain yield, biomass accumulation and ET under different dates of sowing, cultivars and irrigation regimes had similar trends to observe responses, though there were differences in their magnitude. The wheat grain yield, transpiration and ET increased with fineness of soil texture. Similar to the observed results, the yield was higher in D2 followed by D1 and D3 during 1983–2013. Water use efficiency can be enhanced by planting short duration variety of wheat in the first week of November and scheduling irrigation as per evaporative demand.