Productivity and weather relationship in diverse sowing dates for wheat varieties

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted during 2020–21 to 2022–23 at Jammu to evaluate the effect of sowing dates on crop phenology, agrometeorological indices, biomass accumulation, and productivity of wheat varieties. Timely sowing on 5 November prolonged the crop duration by 20 days compared with 5 December, and significantly improved crop performance. Relative to 5 December sowing, dry matter accumulation at the milking stage, grain yield, and biological yield increased by 18.5, 25.1, and 11.1%, respectively. Among the varieties, ‘HD 2967’ recorded the highest grain yield (3.51 t/ha), which was 14.2 and 6.5% higher than ‘RAJ 3077’ and ‘RSP 561’, respectively. The superior productivity of ‘HD 2967’ was associated with greater accumulation of growing degree days and higher heat use efficiency. Regression analysis showed that growing degree days explained 78% of the variation in dry matter accumulation, while dry matter accumulation at the milking stage explained 86% of the variation in grain yield. Timely sowing of ‘HD 2967’ around 5 November was identified as the most suitable strategy for maximizing wheat productivity under the sub-tropical north-western Himalayan conditions.