Resource conservation in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under different water and nitrogen stress levels

Abstract

A field experiment with four irrigation and four nitrogen treatments was carried out with wheat (cv HD 2932) for two rabi seasons, 2009–10 and 2010–11 at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi to quantify the water and nitrogen use efficiencies under differential water and nitrogen levels. Responses of water-use efficiency (WUE), nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) and wheat yield to variable water and nitrogen levels were investigated. Yield and NUE are significantly affected (P ≤ 0.05) by the different water and nitrogen levels. Under low water level condition along with no nitrogen stress resulted in only 5% decrease in yield compared to the highest yield but it had increased NUE from 34 to 38%. Therefore, low water stress can be allowed which can result in higher NUE and non-significant decrease in yield. The study revealed that the lower water stress resulted in higher NUE, however, higher water stress resulted in decline in NUE