Vol. 12, Issue 10 (2023)

Author(s):
Badal Verma, AK Jha, RS Ramakrishnan, PB Sharma, KK Agrawal and Shani Gulaiya

Abstract:
Coincidence of drought stress at various growth stages of wheat is a chief constraint to accomplish yield potential in wheat crop. The moisture stress at critical growth stages not only reduces the yield but also reduces the quality of produce by affecting the uptake of nutrient by the grains and straw. The present study therefore aimed at comparing the various irrigation levels, wheat varieties and stress regulators to increase the quality of wheat. The experiment was conducted in Rabi season of 2021-2022 at the Research farm of Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur. The experiment was laid out in split-split plot design with three replications. There were thirty treatment combinations comprising of main plot treatments of three irrigation levels, sub-plot treatments of two wheat varieties and sub-sub plot treatments of five stress regulators. Observations on nutrient concentration, nutrient uptake by grains and straw were obtained. The results indicated the provision of three irrigations at CRI, flowering and milking stages enhanced the nutrient concentration and nutrient uptake in wheat crop. The wheat variety JW 3288 outperformed JW 3382 in nutrient concentration and nutrient uptake. The foliar application of 2% KCl resulted in highest nutrient concentration and uptake of the crop among all other treatments. Thus, the combination of three irrigations, variety JW 3288 and foliar application of 2% KCl could be a promising technology for enhancing the nutrient uptake in wheat under water scarce areas.