Performance of Wheat Varieties at Different Sowing Dates under Open and Pongamia pinnata Based Agroforestry Systems

Abstract

The experiment was carried out  in a Pongamia pinnata-based agroforestry system to assess the impact of land use systems, sowing dates, and wheat varieties on wheat cultivation at the Forestry Research Farm, JNKVV, Jabalpur during the Rabi season of 2021-22 The experiment followed a three-factor double split plot design with two systems (open system and agroforestry system) as the main plot, three sowing dates (12th November, 27th November, and 12th December) as subplots, and two wheat varieties (MP-3336 and GW-322) as sub-sub plots. The results showed that the open system outperformed the agroforestry system in terms of plant population, plant height at harvest, grain yield, straw yield, biological yield, and harvest index. Early-sown wheat consistently showed better performance in most parameters compared to timely-sown and late-sown varieties. Among the wheat varieties, the MP-3336 variety exhibited higher plant population, while the GW-322 variety showed taller plants at harvest, longer spikes, higher grain yield, and better harvest index. These findings provide valuable insights into optimizing wheat cultivation in agroforestry systems and emphasize the importance of considering land use systems, sowing dates, and wheat varieties to maximize crop productivity.