Research Article Ridge sowing technique: A new crop establishment technique for wheat in rice-wheat cropping system of northern Punjab

A field experiment was conducted to determine the best planting technique to resolve the problem of first and last irrigation applications to wheat crop during Rabi 2009 -10 to 2011-12. Three sowing techniques i.e broadcasting, drill sowing and ridge sowing were tested in Agro Ecological conditions of Adaptive Research Farm Gujranwala. Results of three years study revealed that maximum germination count was recorded wheat crop sown by Rabi drill (230.67, 281.33 and 260.67) compared to other sowing techniques. However, productive tillers/m 2 (349, 368 and 351.67) and 1000 grain weight (38.90, 40.37 and 39.96 g) were recorded maximum in crop sown on Ridges. Similarly maximum wheat yield (4.11, 3.81 and 3.92 t ha -1 ) was recorded during three years when crop was sown on Ridges. It is concluded that Ridge sowing technique was helpful to increase the yield of wheat in clayey soils of heavy rainfall areas.