Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp5 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Impact of irrigation scheduling and biofertilisers on growth, yield and water dynamics in late-sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.13208
Submitted
14 December 2025
Published
10-07-2026

Abstract

The effects of irrigation scheduling and biofertiliser application on growth, yield and water-use dynamics of late-sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were evaluated through a field experiment conducted during the rabi season of 2019–20 at Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with 3 irrigation schedules in main plots: crown root initiation (CRI) stage only (IR1), CRI + late jointing (IR2) and CRI + tillering + milking (IR3) and 4 seed-inoculated biofertiliser treatments in sub-plots: Azotobacter (F1), phosphate-solubilising bacteria (PSB) (F2), Azotobacter + PSB (F3) and liquid phosphate (F4). Irrigation at (IR3 significantly enhanced growth parameters, yield attributes and grain yield compared to limited irrigation schedules. Among biofertilisers, combined inoculation with (F3 resulted in superior growth, yield, water-use efficiency and water productivity over individual applications. Therefore, scheduling irrigation at critical growth stages combined with dual biofertiliser inoculation optimises yield and water use efficiency of late-sown wheat under the agro-climatic conditions of central Uttar Pradesh.

References

  1. 1. Directorate of Economics and Statistics, DAC&FW, Government of India. Agricultural statistics at a glance. New Delhi: Government of India; Directorate of Economics and Statistics, DAC&FW, Government of India.
  2. 2. Vyas S, Nigam R, Patel NK, Panigrahy S. Extracting regional pattern of wheat sowing dates using multispectral and high temporal observations from Indian geostationary satellite. J Ind Soc Remote Sens. 2013;41(4):855–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-013-0266-3
  3. 3. Adnan M, Khan A, Mohammad F, Ali F, Hussain Q. Impact of late sowing on morphological and yield traits in bread wheat. J Soil Plant Environ. 2021;1(1):1–18. https://doi.org/10.56946/jspae.v1i1.2
  4. 4. Dubey R, Pathak H, Chakrabarti B, Singh S, Gupta DK, Harit RC. Impact of terminal heat stress on wheat yield in India and options for adaptation. Agric Syst. 2020;8:102826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102826
  5. 5. Shivani, Verma UN, Kumar S, Pal SK, Thakur R. Growth analysis of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars under different seedling dates and irrigation levels in Jharkhand. Indian J Agron. 2003;48(4):282–86. https://doi.org/10.59797/ija.v48i4.3098
  6. 6. Kaya MD, Okçu G, Atak M, Çıkılı Y, Kolsarıcı Ö. Seed treatments to overcome salt and drought stress during germination in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Eur J Agron. 2006;24(4):291–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2006.08.001
  7. 7. Dietz KJ, Zörb C, Geilfus CM. Drought and crop yield. Plant Biol (Stuttg). 2021;23(6):881–93. https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.13304
  8. 8. Malik GC, Iftikar W, Banerjee M, Ghosh DC. Effect of irrigation, variety and nitrogen on growth and productivity of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the lateritic belt of West Bengal. Int J Bioresour Stress Manag. 2012;3(2):158–64.
  9. 9. Yadav GL, Verma JK. Effect of irrigation regime, nitrogen and zinc fertilization on growth and yield of late-sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Indian J Agron. 1991;36:50–53.
  10. 10. Singh A, Singh D, Kang JS, Aggarwal N. Management practices to mitigate the impact of high temperature on wheat: a review. Int J Integr Omics Appl Biotechnol. 2011;2(7):11–22.
  11. 11. Al Tawaha AR, Karnwal A, Pati S, Al-Tawaha AR, Upadhyay AK, Singh A, et al. Biofertilisers: a sustainable solution for enhancing soil fertility and crop productivity. In: Sustainable agriculture under drought stress. London: Academic Press; 2025:209–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-23956-4.00014-4
  12. 12. Gelvez-Pardo I, Lobo-Berbesi L, Santos-Díaz A. Biological efficacy of plant growth-promoting bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi: assessments in laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Curr Protoc. 2023;3(4):e732. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpz1.732
  13. 13. Dastane NG. A practical manual for water use research in agriculture. 2nd ed. Poona: Navabharat Prakashan; 1972.
  14. 14. Gomez KA, Gomez AA. Statistical procedures for agricultural research. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1984.
  15. 15. Singh S, Singh V, Pal R, Trivedi H, Narayan A, Gautam M. Effect of sowing methods and irrigation levels on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Ecol Environ Conserv. 2023;29:S170–76. https://doi.org/10.53550/EEC.2023.v29i01s.026
  16. 16. Zulfiqar U, Ahmad M, Valipour M, Ishfaq M, Maqsood MF, Iqbal R, et al. Evaluating optimum limited irrigation and integrated nutrient management strategies for wheat growth, yield and quality. Hydrology. 2023;10(3):56. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology10030056
  17. 17. Gupta H, Mishra US, Sirothia P, Mishra A, Patel VK, Rao S. Unveiling the synergistic impact of N and P levels alone and in conjunction with bio-inoculants (Azotobacter and PSB) on growth and yield of wheat. Int J Plant Soil Sci. 2023;35(21):569–75. https://doi.org/10.9734/ijpss/2023/v35i214011
  18. 18. Singh A, Niwas R, Yadav AS, Kumar J, Kumar S. Effect of irrigation scheduling on growth and yield of late sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Pharma Innov J. 2022;9(5):299–301.
  19. 19. Halge SS, Prasanna J, Ghodke PB, Mirza IA, Bhambere HD. Performance of different levels of fertilizers along with biofertilisers on growth and yield of late sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Int J Res Agron. 2024;7(SP-11):500–02. https://doi.org/10.33545/2618060X.2024.v7.i11Sg.2035
  20. 20. Kumar K, Nand V, Pyare R, Maurya NK, Niwas R, Singh S. Effect of irrigation schedules on productivity of late sown varieties of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Int J Chem Stud. 2021;9(1):3273–77. https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2021.v9.i1at.11738
  21. 21. Gond S, Singh MK, Satapathy SM. Irrigation scheduling and soil moisture use on growth and yield of late sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties. Environ Conserv J. 2023;24(1):176–82. https://doi.org/10.36953/ECJ.10812261
  22. 22. Kumawat H, Singh DP, Jat G, Choudhary R, Singh PB, Dhayal S, et al. Effect of fertility levels and liquid biofertilisers on growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Pharma Innov J. 2021;10:1365–69.
  23. 23. Pal S, Kumar S, Gangwar HK, Singh A, Kumar P. Effect of scheduling irrigation based on IW/CPE ratio on dry matter accumulation, yield attributes, yield and economics of wheat crop. Int J Chem Stud. 2020;9(4):1946–49. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.903.286
  24. 24. Ballabh J, Bankoti P. Response of late sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to residue management and various organic sources of nutrients in sandy loam soils of Uttarakhand. Biochem Cell Arch. 2025;25(1):429. https://doi.org/10.51470/BCA.2025.25.1.429
  25. 25. Alam MS, Naresh RK, Vivek KS, Singh HL. Effect of sowing methods and irrigation scheduling on production and productivity of wheat crop. Biol Forum Int J. 2022;14(2a):445–52.
  26. 26. Badal V, Amit KJ, Shiv RR, Nisha S, Rajiv D, Raghav P, et al. Assessment of foliar-applied stress regulators to sustain the growth and yield of wheat varieties under various irrigation levels. Plant Sci Today. 2025;12(3):1–10. https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.8938
  27. 27. Hooda VS, Sangwan M, Kumar S, Kamboj E, Raj D. Performance of tall wheat under different sowing times and methods using various nutrient sources in western Haryana. J Agric Ecol. 2023;15:140–44. https://doi.org/10.58628/JAE-2315-123
  28. 28. Das RC, Ghosh A, Hemel SAK, Parvej SS, Rahman MT, Ali MI. Impact of stage-specific irrigation on the growth and yield of wheat. J Agrofor Env. 2024;17(2):67–73. https://doi.org/10.55706/jae1719
  29. 29. Ali M, Ahmed I, Bibi H, Saeed M, Khalil IA, Bari A. Impact of irrigation schedules on yield-related traits of wheat under semi-arid region. Gesunde Pflanzen. 2023;75(6):2413–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-023-00888-3
  30. 30. Chouhan BS, Kaushik MK, Nepalia V, Solanki NS, Singh B, Devra NS, et al. Effect of sowing methods, scheduling of irrigation based on IW/CPE ratio and chemical weed control on plant height, dry matter accumulation and yield of wheat. J Pharmacogn Phytochem. 2017;6(3):169–72.
  31. 31. Bhambere HD, Prasanna J, Ghodke PB, Mirza IA, Syed SJ. Study of different levels of fertilizers along with biofertilisers on yield and economics of late sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Int J Res Agron. 2024;7(SP-11):493–95. https://doi.org/10.33545/2618060X.2024.v7.i11Sg.2033
  32. 32. Kumar R, Yadav RK, Singh P. Multi-stage irrigation scheduling and its effect on root proliferation and water use in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Agric Water Manag. 2023;276:108021.
  33. 33. Patel MK, Sharma A, Bhatt RK. Root distribution and water uptake dynamics under different irrigation regimes in wheat. J Soil Water Conserv. 2021;20(3):187–92.
  34. 34. Jatav MK, Solanki NS, Meena RK. Effect of biofertilisers on growth, yield and economics of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Int J Curr Microbiol Appl Sci. 2020;9(7):1223–31.
  35. 35. Singh R, Chaudhary BS, Singh V. Optimizing irrigation at crown root initiation stage for higher water productivity in wheat under semi-arid conditions. Irrig Sci. 2021;39:93–102.
  36. 36. Zhang X, Wang Y, Chen L. Diminishing returns of excessive irrigation on crop yield and water productivity. Field Crops Res. 2022;286:108625.
  37. 37. Sharma R, Meena VS, Yadav AN. Dual microbial inoculation improves root development and water productivity under limited irrigation in wheat. Rhizosphere. 2023;27:100637.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.