Field Crops> Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)> Manures and Fertilisers

Manures and fertilizers both play important roles in wheat cultivation. Use of manure improves the general physical condition and structure of the soil and its capacity to hold water. A liberal quantity of bulky manure should be applied in the field if available. About 10 to 15 tonnes of well rotted farm yard manure or compost should be applied four to six weeks before sowing and worked well into the soil. However, manures by themselves can not meet, the high nutrient requirements of plants, which are also in short supply. It, therefore, becomes necessary to supplement manures with chemical fertilizers to get high yields. The high yielding dwarf varieties of wheat fully exhibit their yield potential only when supplied with adequate quantities of nutrients at proper time. A crop of wheat yielding 50 quintals of grain per hectare removes 100-150 kg nitrogen, 70-80 kg phosphorus and 125-150 kg potash from the soil. The response of a given vaiety of wheat to application of fertilizers, however, varies from fields to field and from locality to locality.

Our spoils are universally deficient in nitrogen but the status of phosphorus and potassium differs from place to place depending on native nutrient store and previous fertilization history of the field. Fertiliser dose indicated by soil tests. In case soil tests recommendations are not available the general guideline for fertilization of high yielding dwarf varieties grown under different agro-climatic conditions laid down by the All India Co-ordinated Wheat Improvement Project should be followed. These are given in Table 3.

Table 3. Fertiliser recommendeations for wheat in different agro-climatic regions