Abstract only

Grain crops occupy 760.7 thousand hectares in the Republic of Azerbaijan, 57l thousand hectares out of which are planted to cereals. Average yield of the cereal crops has grown appreciably lately, amounting to 2.65 t/ha in 2001. However, the achieved level of grain output does not meet present requirements. Therefore, the raise of average grain yields to 3.5-4.0 ton/ha has been put forward as a task of the national significance (Food Security in Azerbaijan,2002). One of the existing reserves for further increase of grain yields in irrigated areas of the Republic is introduction of bed-planting technology that provides for high crop yield with lower production costs. Grain crops are grown in the Republic using traditional planting technology -row drilling with a 15-cm distance between the rows and a seeding rate of 220-250 kg/ha. In some countries wheat and other grain crops are planted using bed-planting technology. For instance, wheat is planted on beds to 25 million hectares in the countries of South Asia, while more than 13 million hectares are occupied by the bed- planted wheat in China. The technology has also found a wide application in such countries as Mexico, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria (Sayre and Moreno, 1997). Bed-planting has numerous advantages such as improvement of the soil water-aeration regime, facilitation of irrigation, saving of irrigation water (compared to flood irrigation), reduction in weed plant populations, and more than 50% lower seeding rates. The technology provides high grain yield of winter wheat through promotion of productive tillering. Forthe purpose of introducing and developing the bed-planting technology, the studies were carried out at three farms located on irrigated lands of Garabagh lowlands, namely in Tartar and Barda districts of Azerbaijan. The studies focused on two wheat varieties Giymatli-2/17 and Akinchi-84 that are recognized as well-adapted to the local environment. The trial consisted of three treatments as follows: .Drill-sowingwith 15-cm inter-row distance and seeding rate of 230 kg/ha. .Bed-planting: 60 cm-wide raised beds with 3 rows per bed and 15-cm distance between the ro- ws combined with the low seeding rate 130 kg/ha. .Bed-planting: 75 cm-wide raised beds with 4 rows per bed and 15-cm distance between the rows combined with the low seeding rate 130kg/ha. The management practices applied were the same as the widely adopted in the region. The additional between-row cultivation was carried out in the fields with raised beds. The results of the trials provided evidence that winter wheat yield varied depending on the planting technique. Thus, yield of winter wheat planted on 60 cm-wide raised beds in 3 rows per bed with the seeding rate of 130 kg/ha was 180 kg higher on the average than that of wheat planted by ordinary drill with the seeding rate of230 kg/ha. Production costs in the bed-planted field with the 60 cm inter-row distance was lower for 9-10%, while the level of profitability was higher by 34.4% as compared with the field where wheat was planted by the traditional method (Table ). Reduction of the seeding rate by 40-50% and changing the planting technique provides for obtaining high and quality winter wheat grain yields. It was also found that by increasing the distance between the beds and the number of the rows per bed winter wheat yield decreases. For instance, yield of winter wheat planted on 75cm-wide beds with 4 rows per bed dropped by 170 kg/ha as compared with wheat planted by traditional methods in 15-cm rows. Conditionally, net income per hectare and the profitability level of the field with 75 cm-wide beds is lower by 12.3% and 10.6%, respectively, as compared with wheat planted on 60cm-wide beds. Thus, analysis of the technological and economic variables for the different winter wheat planting practices shows that bed-planting on 60 cm- wide beds with 3 rows per bed is the most cost- effective and can be applied on-farm in the Garabagh lowland.

English

0409|AGRIS 0401|AL-Wheat Program

Juan Carlos Mendieta

CIMMYT Publications Collection