Effect of sowing time on growth and yield of wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.)

Introduction

India is self-sufficient in catering to the needs of major food staples like rice and wheat. On an average, wheat contributes to around 35% of total food grain production and 21% of cultivated area in the country (Tripathi et al., 2017). In India, wheat (Triticum aestivam L.) is the second most important cereal crop after rice and pre-dominant winter season crop of north-western plains zone. Wheat is grown on 33.60 million hectares (m ha) lands with total production of 120.65 million tons (m t) contributes 34 per cent of the total food grain production in the country with the productivity of 3591 kg ha - 1 (Ministry of Agriculture, GOI 2025-26). Wheat Productivity has to be raised to meet ever increasing food demand in the country. In Rajasthan area under wheat crop is 3.59 m ha with production of 15.05 m t and productivity of 4197 kg ha -1 (Ministry of Agriculture, GOR, 2025-26). Crop sowing at appropriate time provides favourable conditions for wheat growth and development (Tahir et al., 2019). High yield can be obtained in early sowing due to extended duration at grain filling stage as delayed sowing causes the warmer conditions which reduces the growing season length that lead to decrease in yield (Alam et al., 2022) [12] . Improper selection of varieties also affects crop yield because performance of varieties vary correspondingly with their genetic potential and adaptable environment, so there is scope for increasing yield of wheat with cultivation of climate resilient varieties (Alam et al., 2022) [12] .

Methods and Materials

The experiment was conducted during rabi 2025-26 at Agronomy farm, School of Agriculture, Suresh Gyan Vihar University, Jaipur. Geographically, the study area is located at 75 o 48'84" E longitude and 26 o 82'47" N latitude and this region falls under agro-climatic zone III A (Semi-arid Eastern Plain Zone) of Rajasthan. The treatments in wheat during rabi seasons comprising 16 combinations having four sowing time 25 th Oct, 10 th Nov, 25 th Nov and 10 th Dec and four varieties (Raj-3765, Raj-4037, Raj-4079 and Raj-1482) treatments was laid out in a factorial randomized block design with three replications. Wheat was sown at 22.5 cm row spacing using seed rate of 100 kg ha -1 .

Results and Discussion

Effect of date of sowing

The highest number of effective tillers, number of grains per spike and spike length were recorded in the treatment 10-Nov, which was significantly superior to 25-Nov, 25-Oct and 10-Dec. This could be attributed to the favourable environmental conditions and enhanced translocation of photosynthates during the crop's reproductive stage. These findings are in close conformity with (Gurjar et al. 2024) [11] . The highest grain, straw and biological yield (4671, 6062 and 10733 kg ha -1 ) was recorded under 10 November sowing, which was significantly superior to 25 October, 25 November and 10 December sowing. Late sowing of wheat led to significantly reduced yields due to adverse growing conditions, including low temperatures and shortened vegetative periods (Gurjar et al. 2024 and Rajbanshi et al. 2025) [11,14] . Its might be due to suitable environmental conditions received by crop plants for their growth and yield contributing characters ultimately yield of crop. The maximum gross return (₹169,938/ha) and net return www.extensionjournal.com (₹127,558/ha) were recorded under the 10 November sowing, which was significantly superior to 25 October, 25 November and 10 December sowing dates. Net return increased by 20.88, 8.62 and 5.53 per cent over 10 December, 25 October and 25 November sowing, respectively. This is due to the fact that II fortnight of October sowing resulted in higher grain yield compared to other sowing dates leading to greater returns. Similar results were noted by Yusuf et al. 2019) [10] . The maximum B:C ratio (3.01) was recorded under the 10 November sowing, which was significantly superior to 25 October (2.77), 25 November (2.85) and 10 December (2.49) sowing dates. The increase in B:C ratio under 10 November sowing was to the extent of 20.88, 8.66 and 5.61 per cent over 10 December, 25 October and 25 November sowing, respectively Kumar et al. (2024) [9] . Patel et al. (2025) [7] reported that wheat sown during the optimum period generated significantly higher profitability and B:C ratio than early or late sowing because of better crop performance and higher marketable yield.

Effect of varieties

Maximum effective tillers per plant, spike length and grains per spike were recorded with Raj 4037 over to Raj-3765 and Raj-1482 and remained statistically at par with Raj 4079. The per centage increased the number of effective tillers per plant with Raj-4037 in tune of 12.57, 9.38 and 4.24 per cent to Raj 1482. Variability among the varieties with respect to the number of tillers might be due to their genetic makeup (Kamboj et al. 2022) [3] . The maximum grain, straw and biological yield (4605, 5948 and 10553 kg/ha) was recorded with Raj 4037, which remained statistically at par with Raj 4079. However, Raj 4037 was found significantly superior to Raj 3765 and Raj 1482. Higher productivity of 4037 may be due to better growth performance, higher tillering, superior dry matter accumulation and improved yield attributes. Similar observations were reported by Rabiu et al. (2025) [5] and Loyal and Sharma (2026) [6] , who found superior grain yield in high-performing wheat varieties. The maximum gross return (₹167,312/ha) and net return (₹124,932/ha) were recorded with Raj 4037, which remained statistically at par with Raj 4079 and was significantly superior to Raj 3765 and Raj 1482. Net return under Raj 4037 increased by 11.17, 8.64 and 4.91 per cent over Raj 1482, Raj 3765 and Raj 4079, respectively. The maximum B:C ratio (2.95) was recorded with Raj 4037, which remained statistically at par with Raj 4079 (2.81) and was significantly superior to Raj 3765 (2.71) and Raj 1482 (2.65). The improved benefit-cost ratio can be attributed to the increased grain and stover yields achieved through optimal varietal selection, which led to higher gross returns and consequently enhanced profitability. Similar findings were reported by (Dhillon et al. 2016 and Khatik et al. 2021) [8,2] .

References

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