Spring wheat response to nitrogen, tillage and cropping system under rainfed condition

AbstractThe objective of this research work was to assess the existing summer fallow elimination by growing short duration leguminous crop (mungbean) and reduction in number of plows could be a good substitute in recent shift of rainfall pattern. The traditional tillage frequencies (exceeding 4–5 plow + 2 harrows) of the summer fallow land without the addition of commercial fertilizers to wheat are the century-old practices in the project area. The rainfall efficiency is very low and is certainly related to the low and marginal fertility status. The existing wheat–fallow–wheat (W–F–W) where field remains without crop for five–six months in summer was compared with the proposed wheat–mungbean–wheat (W–Mb–W) cropping system by eliminating the summer fallow. Four tillage systems, i.e. no tillage (NT), conventional tillage (CT), reduced tillage (RT), and maximum tillage (MT), were employed before wheat sowing. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L., cv. Tatara) was sown at the residual moisture of the monsoon rainfall a...