Effect of tillage, residue and nitrogen management on radiation interception and radiation use efficiency of wheat in a semi-arid environment

Abstract

Improvement in the LAI of wheat was noticed with the increase in nitrogen level but the effect of tillage and residue was not significant on the LAI. The total intercepted photosynthetically active radiation was not influenced by tillage and residue treatments but increased with N levels. Grain and biomass yield of wheat were not significantly affected by tillage and residue treatments but increased significantly with N levels. However, there was no significant difference between 120 and 180 kg Nha-1 with respect to grain and biomass yield of wheat. The radiation use efficiency of wheat was not significantly affected by tillage, residues and nitrogen treatments. So wheat may be grown with the recommended dose of N (120 kg Nha-1) under No tillage with residue retention to obtain higher grain yield, radiation interception and radiation use efficiency under irrigated condition in the semiarid climate of the Indo-Gangetic plain region