Influence of Sowing Pattern and Seed Rate on Plant Growth and Yield in Wheat

A field experiment was carried out to study the effect of different sowing pattern and seed rate on growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) during rabi season of 2015-16 at experimental farm of CSKHPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. The experiment with twelve treatment combinations comprising of four planting patterns (15 cm, 23 cm, 15 x 15 cm and 23 x 23 cm) and three seed rates (100, 120 and 140 kg/ha) was conducted in Randomized Block Design with four replications. The analysis of data showed that , 23 x 23 cm planting patterns significantly increased plant height (2.63 %), leaf area index (13.21%), number of spikes/m2 (6.80%), spike length (6.31%), number of spikelets per spike (4.5%), number of grains per spike (5.57%), biological yield (7.34%), seed yield (9.86%), and seed recovery percentage (5.13%) over normal sowing (23cm). The number of shoots/m2 after full emergence, days to 50% heading, or harvest index did not significantly differ with planting pattern. 140 kg/ha seed rate produced significantly higher number of shoots per m² (17.86%), leaf area index (11.76%), number of spikes per m² (1.53%), biological (3.94%) and seed yield (7.75%) over 100 kg/ha seed rate.