Boosting Wheat Yield and Profitability: A Study on Various Wheat Varieties in Diverse Cropping Systems under the Arid and Hot Climate of India

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is one of oldest and most widely cultivated cereal crops, serving as a staple food worldwide. However, climate change significantly threatens its growth and productivity. To improve productivity through varied cropping systems, we evaluated the economic feasibility and profitability of five wheat varieties Raj-765, Raj-4120, HD-3226, DBW-187, and DBW-222 under arid and high-temperature conditions. The study utilized a split-plot design, with cropping systems designated as the main plots and wheat varieties as the sub-plots, each replicated three times. Our findings show that DBW-222 in the cluster bean-wheat system achieved the highest grain and straw yields, net returns (NR), and benefit- cost ratio (BCR) over a two-year analysis. DBW-222, DBW-187, and Raj-4120 also showed superior yields, NR, and BCR across various cropping systems, including fallow-wheat, sesamum-wheat, cluster bean-wheat, green gram-wheat, and moth bean-wheat. Further, Raj- 3077 and Raj-3765 performed best in grain and straw yield, net returns (NR), and benefit-cost ratio (BCR) in the groundnut-wheat system, achieving the highest wheat equivalent yield (WEY). In contrast, DBW-222, DBW-187, and Raj-4120 excelled in WEY, WESY, NR, and BCR across the fallow-wheat, sesamum-wheat, cluster bean-wheat, green gram-wheat, and moth bean-wheat systems. However, when grown in the pearl millet-wheat system, Raj-3077 and Raj-3765 recorded significantly lower WEY, WESY, NR, and BCR compared to all other varieties. These findings highlight the significant influence of cropping systems on the performance of wheat varieties, stressing the importance of selecting suitable wheat varieties and cropping systems to boost agricultural productivity and economic returns, particularly in arid and hot climates worldwide.