Growth and Yield Performance of Selected Wheat Genotypes at Variable Irrigation Management

Abstract

The experiment was conducted in the Agronomy Field, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU), Dhaka-1207 during the period of November 17, 2016 to March 29, 2017 on growth and yield performance of selected wheat genotypes at variable irrigation. In this experiment, the treatment consisted of three varieties viz. V1 = BARI Gom 26, V2 = BARI Gom 28, V3 = BARI Gom 30, and four different irrigations viz. I0 = No Irrigation throughout the growing season, I1 = One irrigation (Irrigate at CRI stage), I2= Two irrigation (Irrigate at CRI and grain filling), I3= Three irrigation (irrigate at CRI, booting and grain filling stages). The experiment was laid out in two factors split plot with three replications. The collected data were statistically analyzed for evaluation of the treatment effect. Results showed that a significant variation among the treatments in respect majority of the observed parameters. Results showed significant variation in almost every parameter of treatments. The highest Plant height, number of effective tillers hill-1, spike length, number of grain spike-1 was obtained from BARI Gom-30. The highest grain weight hectare-1 (3.44 ton) was found from wheat variety BARI Gom-30. All parameters of wheat showed statistically significant variation due to variation of irrigation. The maximum value of growth, yield contributing characters, seed yield was observed with three irrigation (irrigate at CRI, booting and grain filling stages). The interaction between different levels of variety and irrigation was significantly influenced on almost all growth and yield contributing characters, seed yield. The highest yield (3.99 t ha-1) was obtained from BARI Gom-30 with three irrigation (irrigate at CRI, booting and grain filling stages). The optimum growth and higher yield of wheat cv. BARI Gom-30 could be obtained by applying three irrigations at CRI, booting and grain filling stages. Introduction Wheat (Triticumaestivum L.) is one of the most important cereal crops cultivated all over the world. Wheat production was increased from 585,691 thousand tons in 2000 to 713,183 thousand tons in 2013 which was ranked below rice and maize in case of production (FAO, 2015). In the developing world, need for wheat will be increased 60 % by 2050 (Rosegrant and Agcaoili, 2010). The International Food Policy Research Institute projections revealed that world demand for wheat will increase from 552 million tons in 1993 to 775 million tons by 2020 (Rosegrantet al.,1997).  Wheat grain is the main staple food for about two third of the total population of the world. (Hanson et al., 1982). It supplies more nutrients compared with other food crops. Wheat grain is rich in food value containing 12% protein, 1.72% fat, 69.60% carbohydrate and 27.20% minerals (BARI, 2006). It is the second most important cereal crop after rice in Bangladesh.  So, it is imperative to increase the production of wheat to meet the food requirement of vast population of Bangladesh that will secure food security. During 2013-14 the cultivated area of wheat was 429607 ha having a total production of 1302998 metric tons with an average yield of 3.033 metric tons ha-1whereas during 2012-13 the cultivated area of wheat was 416522 ha having a total production of 1254778 metric tons with an average yield of 3.013 tons ha-1 (BBS, 2014). Current demand of wheat in the country is 3.0-3.5 million tons.  Increasing rate of consumption of wheat is 3% per year (BBS, 2013). Wheat production is about 1.0 milllion from 0.40 million hectares of land. Bangladesh has to import about 2.0-2.5-million-ton wheat every year. Wheat is grown all over Bangladesh but wheat grows more in Dhaka, Faridpur, Mymensingh, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Comilla districts. Wheat has the umpteen potentialities in yield among other crops grown in Bangladesh.  However, yield per hectare of wheat in Bangladesh is lower than other wheat growing countries in the world due to various problems.   Increasing food production of the country in the next 20 years to much population growth is a big challenge in Bangladesh. It is more difficult because, land area devoted to agriculture will decline and better-quality land and water resources will be divided to the other sector of national economy.  In order to grow more food from marginal and good quality lands, the quality of natural resources like seed, water, varieties and fuel must be improved and sustained. Variety plays an important role in producing high yield of wheat because different varieties responded differently for their genotypic characters, input requirement, growth process and the prevailing environment during growing season. In Bangladesh the wheat growing season (November-March) is in the driest period of the year.  Wheat yield was declined by 50% owing to soil moisture stress. Irrigation water should be applied   in different critical stages of wheat for successful wheat production. Shoot dry weight, number of grains, grain yield, biological yield and harvest index decreased to a greater extent when water stress was imposed at the anthesis stage while water stress was imposed at booting stage caused a greater reduction in plant height and number of tillers (Gupta et al., 2001). Determination of accurate amount of water reduces irrigation cost as well as checks ground water waste. Water requirements vary depending on the stages of development. The pick requirement is at crown root initiation stage (CRI). In wheat, irrigation has been recommended at CRI, flowering and grain filling stages. However, the amount of irrigation water is shrinking day by day in Bangladesh which may be attributed to filling of pond river bottom. Moreover, global climate change scenarios are also responsible for their scarcity of irrigation water. So, it is essential to estimate water saving technique to have an economic estimate of irrigation water. Information on the amount of irrigation water as well as the precise sowing time of wheat with change in climate to expedite wheat production within the farmer’s limited resources is inadequate in Bangladesh. The need of water requirement also varies with sowing times as the soil moisture depletes with the days after sowing in Bangladesh as there is scanty rainfall after sowing season of wheat in general in the month of November. With above considerations, the present research work was conducted with the following objectives: To evaluate yield performance of selected wheat genotypes(s) at variable irrigation management. To identify the suitable genotype (s) of wheat giving higher yield under moisture stress condition.  Materials and Methods Description of the experimental site The experiment was conducted in the Research Field, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU), Dhaka-1207 during the period of November, 2016 to March, 2017 to observe the growth and yield performance of selected wheat genotypes at variable irrigation management. The experimental field is located at 23041´ N latitude and 90º 22´ E longitude at a height of 8.6 m above the sea level belonging to the Agro-ecological Zone “AEZ-28” of Madhupur Tract (BBS, 2013). Soil characteristics The soil of the research field is slightly acidic in reaction with low organic matter content. The selected plot was above flood level and sufficient sunshine was available having available irrigation and drainage system during the experimental period. Soil samples from 0-15 cm depths were collected from experimental field. The experimental plot was also high land, having pH 5.56. Climate condition The experimental field was situated under sub-tropical climate; usually the rainfall is heavy during Kharifseason, (April to September) and scanty in Rabi season (October to March). In Rabi season temperature is generally low and there is plenty of sunshine. The temperature tends to increase from February as the season proceeds towards kharif. Rainfall was almost nil during the period from November 2016 to March 2017 and scanty from February to September. Planting material The test crop was wheat (Triticumaestivum). Three wheat varieties BARI Gom-26, BARI Gom-28 and BARI Gom-30 were used as test crop and were collected from Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Joydebpur, Gazipur. Treatments The experiment consisted of two factors and those were the wheat genotypes and irrigation. Three wheat genotypes and four irrigations were used under the present study. Factor A: three wheat varieties- V1 = BARI Gom-26, V2 = BARI Gom-28 and V3= BARI Gom-30. Factor B: four irrigations- I0 = No Irrigation throughout the growing season, I1 = One irrigation (Irrigate at CRI stage), I2= Two irrigation (Irrigate at CRI and grain filling) and I3= Three irrigation (Irrigate at CRI, booting and grain filling stages). The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with three replications having irrigation application in the main plots, verities in the sub plots. There were 12 treatments combinations. The total numbers of unit plots were 36. The size of unit plot was 2 m x 2 m = 4.00 m2. The distances between sub-plot to sub-plot, main plot to main plot and replication to replication were, 0.75, 0.75 and 1.5 m, respectively.  Statistical analysis The collected data on each plot were statistically analyzed to obtain the level of significance using the computer-based software MSTAT-C developed by Gomez and Gomez, 1984. Mean difference among the treatments were tested with the least significant difference (LSD) test at 5 % level of significance. Results and Discussion Plant height Plant height varied significantly among the tested three varieties (Table 1). At, 75 DAS, BARI Gom 30 showed the tallest plant height (34.72 cm) and BARI Gom 26 recorded the shortest plant height (32.32 cm). At, 90 DAS, BARI Gom 30 recorded the highest plant height (76.13 cm) was observed from BARI Gom 26. However, BARI Gom 26 recorded the shortest plant height (75.01 cm) which was also st