Unveiling the Potential of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Varietal Performance Evaluation through Organic Nutrient Management

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is second-most important food grain crop produced in India after rice. The Experiments was conducted during the Rabi season of the year 2020/21 at Instructional Research Farm, Krishi Nagar, Adhartal, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur (M.P.) to study the performance of different wheat varieties under organic nutrient management in Kymore Plateau and Satpura Hills Zone. The soil of the region favour high input intensive farming for producing a maximum yield per unit of land area. Frequent use of agrochemicals, such as fertilizers, pesticides, weedicides etc. and other techniques were extremely taxing, that depletes the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil and causing a considerably larger loss of nutrients than its replenishment. The standardization of organic manure application is the need of the hour to sustain crop productivity and soil health in the region. Selection of a variety plays a crucial role under organic farming as it has a direct effect on yield and economics of a crop than conventional farming. Organic farming requires regionally adapted varieties that are well suited to regional soil, climate, and production systems. The existing cultivars have to be appraised for the specific characteristics needed in organic farming. As a result, treatments consisted of twelve varieties of wheat viz., JW 17, JW 3020, JW 3173, JW 3269, JW 3288, C 306, HI 1500, HI 1531, HI 1418, HD 2987, HW 2004 and HD 4672 were tested in randomized complete block design with three replications. The highest grain yield of 3787 kg ha-1 recorded from JW 17 followed by varieties C 306 and JW 3269. While HI 1418 variety was the lowest yielder with a grain yield of 2796 kg ha-1 among all tested varieties. Thus, the performance of variety JW 17 was found superior concerning growth parameters, yield attributing characters and yield closely followed by varieties C 306, JW 3269 and JW 3288.