Enhancement of Wheat Production Through Agronomic Manipulation

 Sunil Kumar Verma and S. B. Singh

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Fertilizer, water, energy and other agro-chemicals are the major inputs in intensive cropping.Indiscriminate and injudicious use of these inputs for achieving potential yield of crops has not only enhanced the cost of cropping but also threatened the degradation of environment. High cost and limited availability of these monetary inputs, and concern about the environment necessitate that such inputs are used in the most efficient manner. There is a greater emphasis on crop diversification which resulted in adverse effect such as accelerated erosion, loss of soil structure, soil compaction, and oxidation of organic matter and deterioration of soil biological health,energy crisis, increasing cost and labour shortage, environmental pollution etc.Accordingly, conservation tillage and modified crop establishment practices are being suggested with the availability of new machinery and herbicides for weed control in intensive cropping systems. Modern concept of cropping system aims at improving resource-use-efficiency with minimum soil disturbance soil cover through residues, and adoption of sptial and temporal crop sequences.