Enhancing wheat productivity through integrated approach of optimizing sowing time window, nutrient management, and plant growth regulators application

Under changing climate scenario, terminal heat stress imposes a considerable risk to wheat productivity and among the most effective strategies to mitigate this stress is adjusting the sowing time. In this perspective, this study was conducted with an aim of enhancing the wheat productivity by combination of optimized sowing dates, nutrient-rich condition and growth regulators application. The field experimentation was done in split-plot design with four sowing dates (October 25, November 05, November 15, and November 25) in main-plots and three nutrient management strategies {NM1 – recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) comprising 150 kg N, 60 kg P2O5 and 40 kg K2O ha-1; NM2 – 150% RDF + 15 t farmyard manure (FYM) ha-1; and NM3 – 150% RDF with 15 t FYM ha-1 and two foliar tank-mix sprays of growth regulators (GR) (chlormequat chloride @400 g ha-1 + tebuconazole @172 g ha-1) at the stages of first node followed by boot-leaf of wheat} in sub-plots. Results showed that early sowing (October 25) led to an 8.5–11.3% increase in grain yield compared to mid- and late-November sowing (November 15 and 25). The nutrient-rich condition combined with GR application resulted in shorter plant height by 8–9 cm along with improved grain yield by 5.2–6.3% over RDF and 150% RDF + FYM, primarily due to improved earhead density (5.2–11.2%) and higher grains m-2 (5.5–8.0%). The findings suggest that early sowing combined with higher nutrient input and growth regulator use holds promise for wider adoption to achieve productivity gains in heat prone regions.