Peer-review: Yes - Open Access: Yes|http://science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=MASTER&ISSN=0378-3774

This paper deals with growth and yield of wheat with respect to varying agronomic and resource management practices. Variability of inputs like fertilizer and irrigation as well as differential response of cultivars to these inputs and other agri-management practices coupled with various biotic and abiotic stresses need to be understood in view of current yield stagnation of wheat in the north India, the wheat belt on the country. The reduction in yield arising due to delay in sowing, limited inputs of water and nitrogen, interaction among various biotic and abiotic stresses are discussed on the basis of historic datasets or by using simulation models. Agri-production functions to assess the grain yield of wheat under various biotic and abiotic stresses were developed, which may subsequently help in developing simple crop growth model. Simulated datasets of biomass production and yield indicate that the water production functions based on seasonal evapo-transpiration and transpiration are rather site specific and do not reflect inter-seasonal weather variability. The variabilities in terms of inputs and agronomic management practices and yield of wheat in farmers’ fields in selected locations in north India have been quantified. The possibility of using the wheat growth simulator WTGROWS and InfoCrop has been explored to understand the cultivar diversity of wheat in the study areas. Impact of climatic variability, mainly the variations in the winter rains and abrupt changes in the temperatures during critical growth stages, are different in different production environments. There is a need to collate the information of growth response behaviour for Indian wheat, so that the productivity can be enhanced either by breaking the yield barriers through evolving suitable ideotypes or adopting suitable resource and agronomic management practices.

English

Elsevier