~ 3006 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2020; 8(2): 3006-3009 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 www.chemijournal.com IJCS 2020; 8(2): 3006-3009 © 2020 IJCS Received: 15-01-2020 Accepted: 19-02-2020 Banshi Lal Bhateshwar M.Sc. Scholar, Department of Agronomy, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India SK Intodia Professor, Department of Agronomy, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Kamal Garg Division of Agronomy, IARI New Delhi, India Piyush Choudhary Ph D Scholar, Department of Agronomy, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Ramniwas Ph D Scholar, Department of Agronomy, SKRAU, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India Corresponding Author: Banshi Lal Bhateshwar M.Sc. Scholar, Department of Agronomy, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India Effect of FYM, mulching and agro-chemicals on growth parameters of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L . ) crop under different sowing dates Banshi Lal Bhateshwar, SK Intodia, Kamal Garg, Piyush Choudhary and Ramniwas DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i2at.9209 Abstract A field experiment was conducted at was conducted at Instructional Farm, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur during rabi 2016-17 to study the effect of FYM, mulching and agro-chemicals on growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) crop under different sowing dates. The experiment consisted of 12 treatment combinations comprising of two sowing dates (Timely, Late) and six management practices, viz., control, FYM, Mulching, FYM + Mulching, FYM + Mulching + ZnSO4 and FYM + Mulching + KCl (P0, P1, P2, P3, P4, P5). The experiment was conducted in factorial randomized block design and replicated thrice. Results showed that timely sowing of crop had significant effect on various growth parameters i.e., plant height, dry matter accumulation, CGR, RGR and total number of tillers. Timely sown crop recorded significantly higher growth parameters which was found statistically superior over late sown crop treatment. Result further showed that 10 t ha -1 FYM + 4.0 t ha -1 Mulch + 0.2% KCl (P5) recorded highest growth parameters followed by 10 t ha -1 FYM + 4.0 t ha -1 Mulch + 0.5% ZnSO4 (P4) and 10 t ha -1 FYM + 4.0 t ha -1 Mulch (P3). Keywords: Agro-chemicals, FYM, Growth parameters, mulching and sowing date Introduction Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most widely cultivated food crop. It is most important cereal crop in terms of production and area in the world. It is the second most important staple food crop of our country. This crop was mainly responsible for the green revolution and mitigating the problem of food insecurity in India. Wheat is cultivated in almost all countries. The major wheat producing countries are China, India, USA, Russia, Canada and Australia. It is the only cultivated species in its genus and belongs to grass family Poaceae (Gramineae). It is also known as “King of Cereal”. Wheat compares well with other important cereals in its nutritive value. It contains more protein than other cereals. Wheat has a relatively high content of niacin and thiamine. Wheat grain contains 11-12 per cent protein beside “gluten” which is very essential for bakers. It is cultivated in wide range of climatic environments and geographic region (Dixon et al., 2009) [9] . It is the main staple food of nearly 35 per cent of the world population. Globally wheat stands second in terms of total production with a quantum of 713.97 million tonnes from 220.45 million ha area (FAS/USDA, 2014). India has the largest area under wheat (31.2 million ha), with a productivity of 3075 kg ha-1 and is the second largest producer of wheat (95.9 million tonnes) after China in the world (FAOSTAT, 2017) [4] . In Rajasthan, the area and production of wheat was 3.3 million hectare and 12.43 million tonnes during 2016-17, respectively (Govt. of Rajasthan, 2016-17). Growth and development of wheat is adversely affected by environmental stresses like high temperature, soil moisture deficit, low light intensity, etc. (Joshi et al., 2007 and Modarresi et al., 2010) [7, 10] . In last few years, temperature fluctuation (variation) during wheat growing season was also observed in Rajasthan and thereby, growth and yield of timely as well as late sown wheat was adversely affected. The impact of high temperature on wheat productivity can be minimized by adoption of various management practices. Adjustment in sowing time is the most important agronomic strategy to counteract the adverse effect of temperature stress. The optimum time of sowing for wheat crop in India is first fortnight of November.