Abstract
A four-year field experiment was conducted during 1998-2002 under irrigated condition at the Research Farm of Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Peshawar, to study the response of wheat to two crop rotations viz., i) wheat following maize, and ii) wheat following soybean and to fertilizer N application. Wheat after maize or soybean was fertilized with 0, 60 and 120 kg N ha-1. The main objective of the research project was to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of wheat through legume N management. Including soybean in rotation significantly increased the grain and straw yield of the following wheat in each season in both fertilized and unfertilized N treatments as compared to wheat following maize. On an average, soybean improved the grain yield of wheat by 44.9% (741.7 kg ha-1) in unfertilized, and 14.5 -14.7% (496.4-419.0 kg ha-1) in fertilized N treatments. The yield obtained in soybean-wheat rotation treatment in the absence of N-fertilizer was statistically equal to the yield of 60 kg N fertilizer treatment in maize-wheat rotation. Straw yield increased in similar pattern. The N uptake by wheat straw and grain was increased significantly in each year by soybean rotation and maximum increase was recorded in the absence of N fertilizer. The economic analysis of wheat yield data indicated that an increase in net return of Rs. 8055 ha-1 in soybean-wheat rotation was obtained in control (no-N fertilizer). The results further indicated that soybean based rotation reduced the fertilizer N requirement of subsequent wheat by 50%. These results suggest that inclusion of soybean in cropping system maintains soil fertility and enhances wheat crop productivity
W. Mohammad1*, , Z. Shah2 , , S.M. Shah1, S. Shehzadi1. (2008) Response of irrigated and N- fertilized wheat to legume-cereal and cereal-cereal rotation , The Journal Soil & Environment , Volume 27, Issue 2.
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