Indian wheat is largely a soft/medium hard, medium protein, white bread wheat, somewhat
similar to U.S. hard white wheat. Wheat grown in central and western India is typically
hard, with high protein and high gluten content. India also produces around 1.0-1.2
million tons of durum wheat, mostly in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Most Indian
durum is not marketed separately due to segregation problems in the market yards.
However, some quantities are purchased by the private trade at a price premium,
mainly for processing of higher value/branded products.
The production and productivity of Wheat crop were quite low, when India became
independent in 1947. The production of Wheat was only 6.46 million tonnes and productivity
was merely 663 kg per hectare during 1950-51, which was not sufficient to feed the
Indian population. The Country used to import Wheat in large quantities for fulfilling
the needs of our people from many countries like USA under PL-480.
The reasons of
low production and productivity of Wheat at that time was (a) the tall growing plant
habit resulting in lodging, when grown under fertile soils, (b) the poor tillering
and low sink capacity of the varieties used, (c) higher susceptibility to diseases,
(d) the higher sensitivity to thermo & photo variations, etc., resulting in
poor adaptability, and (e) longer crop duration resulting in a long exposure of
plants to the climatic variations and insect pest / disease attacks.
The Government of India appointed a commission in 1961 to assess the feasibility
of increasing the crop productivity under prevailing Indian ecological conditions.
As result of various steps taken by Govt. of India, the Wheat scenario in our country
has completely changed. In the post Independence era, country used to import Wheat
for our needs but due to bumper increase in the production and productivity of
Wheat
in the 'Green Revolution' period in late sixties, our country became self dependent
in Wheat production. At present, country is producing much more excess Wheat than
the requirement and Godowns are over-flooded with Wheat.
Climate requirement
Wheat crop has wide adaptability. It can be grown not only in the tropical and sub-tropical
zones, but also in the temperate zone and the cold tracts of the far north ,beyond
even the 60 degree north altitude .
Wheat can tolerate severe cold and snow and
resume growth with the setting in of warm weather in spring .It can be cultivated
from sea level to as high as 3300 meters.
The best wheat are produced in areas favoured with cool, moist weather during the
major portion of the growing period followed by dry, warm weather to enable the
grain to ripen properly.
The optimum temperature range for ideal germination of
wheat seed is 20-25 C though the seeds can germinate in the temperature range 3.5
to 35 c. Rains just after sowing hamper germination and encourage seedling blight.
Areas with a warm and damp climate are not suited for wheat growing.
During the heading and flowering stages, excessively high or low temperatures and
drought are harmful to wheat. Cloudy weather, with high humidity and low temperatures
is conducive for rust attack. Wheat plant requires about 14-15 c optimum average
temperature at the time of ripening.
The temperature conditions at the time of
grain filling and development are very crucial for yield. Temperatures above 250c
during this period tend to depress grain weight. When temperatures are high, too
much energy I lost through the process of transpiration by the plants and the reduced
residual energy results in poorer grain formation and lower yields. Wheat is mainly
a rabi (winter) season crop in India.
Soil
Wheat is grown in a variety of soils of India. Soils with a clay loam or loam texture,
good structure and moderate water holding capacity are ideal for wheat cultivation.
Care should be taken to avoid very porous and excessively drained oils.
Soil should
be neutral in its reaction. Heavy soil with good drainage are suitable for wheat
cultivation under dry conditions. These soils absorb and retain rain water well.
Heavy soils with poor structure and poor drainage are not suitable as wheat is sensitive
to water logging.
Wheat can be successfully grown on lighter soils provided their
water and nutrient holding capacity are improved.
The time and placement of fertilizer is another area where significant progress
was made. It was demonstrated that 120 kg nitrogen, 60 kg phosphorus and 30 kg potash
per hectare were required for optimum productivity.
The N was to be applied in two
split doses of 60 kg as basal and the remaining 60 kg at first irrigation and full
phosphorus and potash to be applied as basal. Recently, the new wheat varieties
have responded up to 180 kg N/ha with optima dose around 150 kg/ha. In the Indo-Gangetic
plains, application of zinc @ 25kg/ha in rice-wheat system was found to increase
the yield substantially. Recently, the use of sulphur has been found beneficial
for enhancing the productivity as well as the grain protein content of wheat.
Response
to Mn (pockets in the Indo-Gangetic plains) and boron (eastern and far eastern region)
has also been realized.
With intensive agriculture, deficiency of essential nutrients has also become wide
spread. The work conducted under the All India Coordinated Research Project on Micronutrient
in Crops and Soils, has shown wide spread deficiency of zinc in soils in India.
At the national level, the deficiency level in micro nutrients is Zn: 46 %, B: 17
%, Mo: 12 %, Fe: 11 % and Cu: 5%. The deficiency of sulphur has also been reported
across a wide range of soils (38%).The yield response to sulphur has been obtained
in more than 40 crops including cereal, millets, oilseeds and pulses etc. To realize
the potential yield, strategies may include
- Site specific nutrient management for targeted yields
- Integration of crop residues, bio fertilizers etc with inorganic fertilization
- Tillage techniques like FIRBS for increasing nutrient use efficiencies
- Remote sensing for efficient Nutrient management
- Nutrient management, straw quality vis-à-vis human and animal health
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