EFFECT OF SOWING DATES ON REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR OF WHEAT

Abstract

The study was conducted at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka during the period from November 2012 to March 2013 in rabi season to find out the effect of sowing dates on reproductive behavior of wheat. The experiment comprised of two factor; Factor A: Sowing date (4 times) - S1: Sowing at 17 November, 2012; S2: Sowing at 30 November, 2012; S3: Sowing at 15 December, 2012 and S4: Sowing at 30 December, 2012 and Factor B: Wheat varieties (6 wheat varieties) - V1: BARI Gom 21; V2: BARI Gom 23; V3: BARI Gom 24; V4: BARI Gom 25; V5: BARI Gom 26 and V6: BARI Gom 27. The two factors experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Data on different yield contributing characters and yield were recorded and significant variation was computed due to the effect of sowing dates, wheat varieties and their interaction effect. For different sowing dates, at 25, 35, 45, 55, 65 DAS and at harvest, the longest plants (30.43, 48.49, 69.37, 79.77, 85.60 and 95.15 cm, respectively) were observed from S2, while the shortest plants (27.51, 43.62, 63.50, 74.36, 81.06 and 88.51 cm, respectively) from S4. The maximum number of effective tillers plant-1 (4.89) was observed from S2, whereas the minimum number (4.34) from S4. The maximum number of filled grain spike-1 (45.16) was recorded from S2, while the minimum number (39.11) from S4. The highest grain yield ha-1 (3.93 ton) was observed from S2, while the lowest (3.09 ton) was found from S4. In case of wheat varieties, at 25, 35, 45, 55, 65 DAS and at harvest, the longest plants (30.46, 48.68, 68.71, 79.49, 86.78 and 96.03 cm, respectively) were found from V3, again the shortest plants (27.76, 43.14, 63.97, 74.43, 80.69 and 88.51 cm, respectively) from V2. The maximum number of effective tillers plant-1 (4.89) was recorded from V3, while the minimum number (4.37) from V2. The maximum number of filled grain spike1 (45.51) was obtained from V3, whereas the minimum number (38.39) from V2. The highest grain yield ha-1 (3.70 ton) was recorded from V3, again the lowest (3.30 ton) from V2. Due to the interaction effect of sowing dates and wheat varieties, the longest plants were observed from S3V3 and the shortest plants from S4V4. The maximum number of effective tillers plant-1 (5.60) was recorded from S2V3, whereas the minimum number (3.90) from S4V4. The maximum number of filled grain spike-1 (51.50) was attained from S3V3 and the minimum number (30.57) from S4V4. The highest grain yield ha-1 (4.14 ton) was recorded from S2V3, whereas the lowest (2.83 ton) from S4V4 . From the above results, it can be concluded that 30 November sowing provided best yield for most of the varieties and the varieties BARI Gom 24 and BARI Gom 26 provided better yield than the other varieties.