Economic, water saving and energy efficient crop establishment and inter-culture practices for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in Indian humid subtropics

Water and energy crisis, rising temperature and subsequent changes in climate result in calamitous loss of wheat productivity due to adverse effect on plant growth and development. Plateauing yield trends and declining total factor productivity compel for alternative water and energy-efficient conservation practices supporting sustainable wheat productivity in humid tropics. Present investigation tested the hypothesis stating that the alternate wheat establishment methods and inter-culture practices would economize energy and water requirement with enhanced productivity. Different wheat establishment methods viz., conventional tillage, reduced tillage, zero tillage and raised bed landforms of 40/20 and 60/20 cm and two inter-culture practices, i.e. conoweeding and alternate ridging on spring wheat were evaluated for two years at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand, India. Zero and reduced tillage depicted better economic viability with benefit cost ratio of 2.86 and 2.84, respectively, which was statistically at par with conventional tillage. Alternate ridging and raised bed (60/20 cm) recorded 13.3 and 41.7% saving of irrigation water, respectively. Highest energy use efficiency was observed in raised bed 60/20 cm with 22.4% less energy consumption compared to conventional method. Thus, adoption of conservation practices with improved inter-culture operations holds potential for sustainable, water and energy-efficient and profitable wheat productivity.