Precision nutrient management in wheat (Triticum aestivum) using Nutrient Expert®: Growth phenology, yield, nitrogen-use efficiency and profitability under eastern sub-Himalayan plains
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v63i2.5401Keywords:
Crop phenology, Economics, Nutrient Expert®, Nutrient use efficiency, Wheat productivityAbstract
A field experiment was conducted during the winter season (rabi) of 2014–15 and 2015–16 at Coochbehar, West Bengal, to assess the performance of Nutrient Expert® software on performance of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under both zero and conventional tillage. The experiment was designed in a split-plot design, with tillage options in main plot and nutrient management options in subplot. The treatment receiving 100% N-P-K through Nutrient Expert (NE) software resulted in higher plant height (90.2 cm) and leaf-area index (LAI) (4.70 at 90 days after sowing) with increased biomass (9.10 t/ha). As indicated from attainment of various phonological dates, it was revealed that the crop duration was drastically reduced due to shorter vegetative and reproductive phase under noor minimum nutrient-application treatment. Nutrient-management options also had a significant effect on the yield components of wheat, viz. spikes/m2 , grains/spike as well as 1,000-seed weight. Treatment based on Nutrient Expert® produced significantly higher number of spikes/m2 (382), grains/spike (55.7), spike length (11.25 cm) as well as 1,000-seed weight (41.65 g) leading to the maximum yield (3.83 t/ha), 11% higher over recommended dose of nutrient application; thus, reflecting its superiority under both conventional and zero tillage. The NE-based recommendation indicated the superiority towards greater agronomic nitrogen-use efficiency (16.74 kg grain/kg N), economic nitrogen-use efficiency (2.11 kg grain/ invested in N) as well as benefit: cost ratio (1.57).
References
Abid, M., Rehman, S. and Hussain, S. 2014. Tillage practices and
nitrogen application influenced soil physical properties and
wheat production. Pakistan Journal of Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering, Veterinary Sciences 30(1): 75–84.
Bharadwaj, A.K., Mahapatra, B.S., Singh, A.P., Chaubey, A.K.,
Singh, N. and Singh, D. 2008. Productivity of rice–wheat
cropping system as influenced by site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) treatments. Journal of Farming Systems
Research and Development 14(1): 102–104.
Dobermann, A. and Witt, C. 2004. Increasing productivity of intensive rice systems through site-specific nutrient management.
(In) Enfield, NH (USA) and Los Banos (Philippines): Science Publishers, International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI), pp. 75–100.
Majumdar, K., Jat, M.L., Pampolino, M., Satyanarayana, T., Dutta,
S. and Kumar, A. 2013. Nutrient management in wheat:
Current scenario, improved strategies and future research
needs in India. Journal of Wheat Research 4(1): 1–10.
Malik, G.C., Iftikar, W., Banerjee, M. and Ghosh, D.C. 2012. Effect
of irrigation,variety and nitrogen on growth and productivity of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the lateritic belt of
West Bengal. International Journal of Bio-resource and
Stress Management 3(2): 158–164.
Mauriya, A.K., Maurya, V.K., Tripathi, H.P., Verma, R.K. and
Radhey Shyam. 2013. Effect of site-specific nutrient management on productivity and economics of rice (Oryza sativa)–wheat (Triticum aestivum) system. Indian Journal of
Agronomy 58(3): 282–287.
Mitra, B., Mookherjee, S. and Das, S. 2014. Performances of wheat
under various tillage and nitrogen management in sub-Himalayan plains of West Bengal. Journal of Wheat Research
(2): 150–153.
Mohanty, S.K., Singh, A.K., Jat, S.L., Parihar, C.M., Pooniya, V.,
Sharma, S., Sandhya, Chaudhary, V. and Singh, Bahadur.
Precision nitrogen-management practices influences
growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) under conservation agriculture. Indian Journal of Agronomy 60(4): 617–
Pampolino, M., Majumdar, K., Jat, M.L., Satyanarayana, T., Kumar,
A., Shahi, V.B., Gupta, N. and Singh, V. 2012. Development
and evaluation of nutrient expert for wheat in south Asia.
Better Crops 96(3): 29–31.
Pande, I.B., Singh, H. and Tiwari, S. 2003. Response of timely sown
wheat to levels and time of application. Journal of Research:
Birsa Agricultural University 15(1): 35–38.
Sah, G., Shah, S.C., Sah, S.K., Thapa, R.B., McDonald, A.J., Sidhu, H.S., Gupta, R.K., Tripathi, B.P., Justice, S.E. and Sherchan,
D.P. 2014. Evaluation of different tillage and crop establishment methods for wheat cultivation in rice–wheat system in
the terai region of Nepal. Nepal Journal of Agricultural Research 14: 1–13.
Sapkota, T.B., Majumder, K., Jat, M.L., Kumar, A., Bishnoi, D.K.,
Mcdonald, A.J. and Pampolino, M. 2013. Precision nutrient
management in conservation agriculture based wheat production of Northwest India: Profitability, nutrient use efficiency and environmental footprint. CIMMYT BLOG.
Singh, V.K., Tiwari, K.N., Gill, M.S., Sharma, S.K., Dwivedi, B.S.,
Shukla, A.K. and Mishra, P.P. 2008. Economic viability of
site-specific nutrient management in cropping system. Better Crops with Plant Food. 92(3): 28–30.
Witt, C., Pasuquin, J.M., Pampolino, M.F., Buresh, R.J. and
Dobermann, A. 2009. A manual for the development and
participatory evaluation of site-specific nutrient management
for maize in tropical, favorable environments. http://
seap.ipni.net, 30.
