Soil & Tillage Research 141 (2014) 19

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Soil & Tillage Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/still

Weed dynamics and productivity of wheat in conventional

and conservation rice-based cropping systems
Muhammad Farooq a,b,c,*, Ahmad Nawaz a
a

Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
c
College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
b

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Article history:
Received 30 December 2013
Received in revised form 8 March 2014
Accepted 23 March 2014

There exist edaphic and time conicts between rice and following wheat crop in the conventional rice
wheat system. Conservation agriculture offers a pragmatic option to resolve these conicts in the
conventional ricewheat system in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. In this two-year eld study; wheat was raised
through zero tillage, deep tillage, conventional tillage and on raised beds after harvesting rice grown in
aerobic, alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and ooded systems. Various wheat tillage systems after
different rice production systems signicantly affected weed dynamics, stand establishment, morphological and yield-related traits of wheat during both year of study. Soil physical environment was better in the
eld occupied by aerobic rice followed by AWD-sown rice while it was poor after ooded rice. Density of
lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.) was lowest after ooded rice while densities of toothed dock (Rumex
dentatus L.) and littleseed canarygrass (Phalaris minor Retz.) were lowest after aerobic rice. Broad leaf weeds
like lambsquarters and toothed dock dominated in deep tillage, conventional tillage and bed sowing;
whereas narrow leaf weeds like littleseed canarygrass dominated in zero tillage. Better stand
establishment, water use efciency, resource use efciency and grain yield were recorded from wheat
following aerobic rice culture, which was followed by AWD. Amongst the wheat tillage systems, stand
establishment, morphological and yield related traits and water use efciency were better in deep tillage;
whereas resource use efciency was the maximum in zero tillage wheat. Performance of bed-sown wheat
was poor in term of yield related traits and grain yield. However, bed-sown wheat completed the
phenological stages more rapidly than other wheat tillage systems. Maximum net income was observed in
zero tillage wheat following aerobic rice culture. In crux, zero tilled wheat after aerobic rice culture is the
best resource conservation technology; whereas deep tillage in ricewheat cropping system may
ameliorate the puddling-induced edaphic problems.
2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Resource conservation
Rice production system
Seed priming
Tillage

1. Introduction
Ricewheat cropping system occupies an area of 24 Mha in Asia
with 13.5 Mha in South Asia (Anonymous, 2007). Although, rice
wheat crop rotation is dominant in irrigated areas but there are
rainfed pockets as well with this system (Surendra et al., 2001;
Hussain et al., 2012a,b).
Conventionally puddling is done in rice elds; while after rice
harvest, wheat is sown in well-pulverized soil. This shows an
edaphic conict in conventional soil management practice for
rice and its subsequent wheat crop (Farooq et al., 2008a).

* Corresponding author at: Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture,

Faisalabad, Pakistan. Tel.: +92 41 9201098; fax: +92 41 9200605.
E-mail address: farooqcp@gmail.com (M. Farooq).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2014.03.012
0167-1987/ 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Although, puddling helps in weed management and reducing

water loss through percolation (Surendra et al., 2001; Farooq
et al., 2011a); nonetheless it deteriorates the soil environment for
post-rice crops (Sharma and DeDatta, 1985; Farooq et al., 2008a;
Farooq and Basra, 2008). This results in erratic stand establishment of post-rice crops owing to poor contact of seed with soil
(Ringrose-Voase et al., 2000; Farooq et al., 2008a; Farooq and
Basra, 2008). Subsurface compaction of soil, caused by puddling,
may induce the drought to post-rice crops by restricting the root
development (Kirchhof et al., 2000; Kukal and Aggarwal, 2003).
Moreover, conventional rice production system requires 3000
5000 l of water to produce one kg of rice (Belder et al., 2004;
Geethalakshmi et al., 2011), which is 23 times more than other
cereals like maize, barley, wheat and sorghum (Barker et al., 1998;
Bouman et al., 2007). However, declining water resources and
increasing labor cost has threatened the sustainability of

M. Farooq, A. Nawaz / Soil & Tillage Research 141 (2014) 19

conventional rice production system (Pandey and Velasco, 1999;

Farooq et al., 2009).
In conventional rice production areas, wheat plantation is delayed
mostly due to late maturation of Basmati varieties (Byerlee et al.,
1984; Farooq et al., 2008b, 2011b), and any rainfall during this time
accompanied with low temperature further delays the wheat planting
(Farooq et al., 2008b; Farooq and Basra, 2008). This late plantation of
wheat is one of the major factors responsible for low wheat yield
(Hussain et al., 2012a,b). Moreover, ooded paddy elds are the major
source of methane emission (Neue et al., 1990). This methane escapes
into the atmosphere through roots, stems and leaves of rice and
contributes to global warming (Maclean et al., 2002).
Conservation agriculture offers a pragmatic option to resolve
the edaphic conict in the conventional ricewheat system (Hobbs
et al., 2007; Farooq and Basra, 2008; Farooq et al., 2011b). For
Instance, just by eliminating the puddling operation for rice, the
yield of succeeding wheat crop may be substantially improved
along with decrease in production cost (Timsina and Connor, 2001;
Farooq et al., 2008a). Conservation rice production systems, like
aerobic culture and alternate wetting and drying, may help in
resolving the edaphic conict in the rice and proceeding crop
(Farooq and Basra, 2008; Farooq et al., 2008a, 2009) in addition to
substantial cut on the water and labor requirement, and the
greenhouse gas emission (Sarkar, 2001; Bouman and Tuong, 2001;
Farooq et al., 2009, 2011a).
Conservation tillage may help in timely planting of wheat with
signicant decrease in production cost (Erenstein and Laxmi,
2008). However, deep tillage before wheat planting may help to
break the hardpan created during puddling. Deep tillage reduces
soil strength, promotes deep rooting (Kundu et al., 1996), reduces
penetration resistance (Busscher et al., 2000), resulting in better
acquisition of water (Holloway, 1991). Deep tillage in post-rice
elds can improve wheat yields (Hobbs et al., 2002), by improving
the soil physical properties (Mahajan and Bhagat, 2006), through
reduction in bulk density and soil strength. Wheat planting with
conservation tillage is the most successful resource conservation
technology in Indo-Gangetic Plains (Erenstein et al., 2007a;
Erenstein and Laxmi, 2008) with 516% decrease in production
cost (Thakur et al., 2004; Laxmi et al., 2007; Erenstein et al., 2007b)
and substantial yield increase (Gathala et al., 2011). However,
weed ora changes while switching from conventional to
conservation agriculture (Farooq et al., 2011b). Tillage helps to
control certain weeds (Clement et al., 1996; Swanton et al., 2000);
nonetheless tillage may encourage the emergence of certain other
weed species (Shrestha et al., 2003).
Although several studies have been conducted to compare the
performance of conservation and conventional ricewheat cropping system, information on resource conservation, stand establishment and weed dynamics is lacking. Therefore, this study was
conducted to compare the conservation and conventional ricebased wheat production systems for soil physical health, stand
establishment, resource conservation and weed dynamics.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Site and soil
This two-year study was conducted at the Agronomic Research
Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (latitude 318 N, longitude
738 E and altitude 184.4 masl), Pakistan during 20102011 and
20122013 as a part of long term experiment. The experimental soil
belongs to Lyallpur soil series (aridisol-ne-silty, mixed, hyperthermic Ustalc, Haplarged in USDA classication and Haplic Yermosols
in FAO classication. Other physico-chemical properties of
experimental soil are given in Table 1. Weather data during the
experimental period are given in Table 2.
2.2. Plant material
Seeds of wheat cultivar Mairaj-2008 were collected from Wheat
Research Institute, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Initial moisture and germination percentages were
9.1% and 95%, respectively.
2.3. Experimental details
The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block
design in split plot arrangement keeping rice production systems
in main plots and wheat tillage systems in sub-plot with four
replications and a net plot size of 3.3 m  1.80 m. The rice crop in
aerobic culture was sown on June 22, 2010 and was harvested on
November 15, 2010. The nursery for alternate wetting and drying
(AWD) and conventional ooding systems was sown on June 22,
2010 and was transplanted in puddled eld on July 22, 2010. The
rice crop from AWD and conventional ooding systems was
harvested on November 20, 2010 at harvest maturity. In aerobic
rice, land was prepared by four cultivations followed by two
planking. To ensure a good soil for aerobic rice, rotavator was also
operated in the eld before sowing. Rice seed was drilled in aerobic
soil and irrigation was applied when required to maintain the soil
moisture. In AWD, eld was prepared in standing water to reduce

Table 1
Some physical and chemical characteristics of soil prole.

Sand (%)
Silt (%)
Clay (%)
Soil texture
Soil pH
EC (dS m1)
Organic matter (%)
N (%)
P (ppm)
K (ppm)

20102011

20112012

59
23
18
Sandy loam
8.20
0.34
0.90
0.05
5.00
168.0

58
23
19
Sandy loam
8.19
0.33
0.87
0.06
4.97
166.7

Table 2
Weather data during the wheat season of 20102011 and 20112012 at experimental site.
Months

Rainfall

Relative humidity

Temperature (8C)

(mm)

(%)

Daily maximum

Sunshine (h)
Daily minimum

Daily mean

20102011 20112012 20102011 20112012 20102011 20112012 20102011 20112012 20102011 20112012 20102011 20112012
November 0.00
December
1.00
January
0.00
February
20.6
March
6.80
April
20.9

0.00
0.00
3.8
8.0
1.50
10.5

62.3
70.5
73.4
73.0
59.8
47.0

61.2
59.1
69.6
62.1
58.2
59.1

27.1
20.8
15.9
20.2
26.4
32.0

27.6
20.9
17.3
18.4
25.9
32.7

10.5
05.9
04.3
08.7
13.1
17.2

13.3
04.2
03.2
04.6
11.7
18.0

18.8
13.3
10.1
14.4
19.8
24.8

Source: Agricultural Meteorology Cell, Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

20.5
12.5
10.2
11.5
18.8
25.3

8.50
7.00
5.40
5.50
8.40
9.30

8.50
6.90
7.20
7.30
8.30
9.20

M. Farooq, A. Nawaz / Soil & Tillage Research 141 (2014) 19

the water percolation losses and to keep the water standing for
weed suppression. Four weeks old seedlings were transplanted in
standing water. Field was kept ooded for a week, drained for three
days and was then water was applied in alternate cycles of wetting
and drying. In conventional rice production system, seedbed was
prepared as in case of AWD. Four weeks old seedlings were
transplanted in standing water. Field was kept ooded for a week,
drained for three days and then was kept ooded till physiological
maturity. All other operations like fertilizer were same for all three
production systems during both years.
For wheat sowing, eld was prepared for wheat sowing as per
treatment. In zero tillage, wheat was directly drilled into the
stubbles with zero tillage drill. In deep tillage, eld was ploughed
with chisel plough followed by two cultivations with cultivator
and two plankings. In conventional tillage, after rice harvesting
eld was cultivated two times with a cultivator followed by two
plankings. In bed sowing, eld was cultivated twice with a
cultivator followed by two plankings. One meter wide beds were
made and wheat was sown in 22.5 cm spaced lines on each bed.
Crop was sown with a locally designed hand drill on November 24,
2011 using seed primed with CaCl2 (Farooq et al., 2008b) with rate
of 125 kg ha1 in 22.5 cm spaced rows during both the years.
Fertilizers were applied at 1009075 NPK kg ha1 using urea
(46% N), diammonium phosphate (18% N, 46% P2O5) and sulphate
of potash (50% K2O) as source fertilizers. Whole of the phosphorous, potassium and one third of the nitrogen was applied as basal
dose. Remaining nitrogen was applied with 1st and 2nd irrigation
in equal splits. Selective herbicide [Atlantas (iodo-mesosulfuron)
at 14.4 g a.i. ha1] was applied as early post-emergence 30 days
after sowing, after taking weed data, to control the weeds. In total,
four irrigations (each of 3 acre inches) were applied to the crop
during the growth period in addition to soaking irrigation of four
acre inches. Crop was harvested during last week of April during
both years. Each plot was harvested separately and was threshed to
record the yield and other related traits.
2.4. Observations
After rice harvesting, soil bulk density was measured from
depth of 05 cm. The core sampler was used to take soil sample
form the soil, and then these collected samples were dried in oven
at 105 8C to a constant weight, were cooled and weighed. Soil
volume was taken equal to inner volume of core sampler, and bulk
density was estimated as ratio between mass of oven dry soil and
soil volume including pore spaces (Blake and Hartge, 1986). Total
porosity was then measured using the following formula of
Vomocil (1965):
!

rb
:
f 1
rp
where f = total porosity; rb = bulk density; rp = particle density.
For recording data on stand establishment, experimental eld
was visited daily. Two spots (each measuring 1 m2) were randomly
marked in each plot and number of seedlings emerged were
counted daily according to the seedling evaluation Handbook of
Association of Ofcial Seed Analysts (1990). Seedling count was
made until constant seedling number was achieved from each plot.
Mean emergence time (MET) was calculated according to the
equation of Ellis and Roberts (1981). Time to 50% emergence of
seedlings (E50) was calculated following the formulae of Coolbear
et al. (1984) modied by Farooq et al. (2005).
Data on individual weed density was recorded, from two
random places (each measuring 1 m2) in each plot, 30 days after
sowing. Number of days from sowing to booting was taken as time

when 50% booting was completed. Number of productive tillers

was counted from unit area in each plot at nal harvest. From each
plot, ten spikes were randomly taken and threshed manually to
separate the grain. The grains separated were counted to record
number of grains per spike. A sub-sample of 1000 grain was taken
from each plot then weighted on an electric balance and average
1000-grain weight was calculated. The crop was harvested, tied
into bundles and sundried for a week in respective plots. Total
wheat biomass of sun-dried samples was recorded for each
treatment by using a spring balance. The crop was threshed by a
mini-thresher. Grain yield for each treatment was recorded by a
spring balance in kilograms and later expressed in tons per hectare
(t ha1).
Measured quantity of water was applied to each treatment then
water use efciency (WUE) was calculated as the ratio between
grain yield harvested and water used (Viets, 1962). Resource use
efciency was calculated as the ratio of net benets to the total
cost. To determine the comparative net benets, economic analysis
was done following CIMMYT (1998). For economic analysis, the
actual biological and yield was reduced by 10% to obtain adjusted
biological and grain yield. Variable cost (tillage cost) was
calculated for each respective wheat tillage system. Total
permanent cost remained xed for all treatments and this cost
included the cost of seed, fertilizer, irrigation, plant protection and
harvesting. Net benets were calculated by subtracting the total
cost from gross income per treatments.
Data recorded, on all the parameters, were analyzed statistically by using computer software MSTAT-C. Least signicance
difference test at 5% probability level was applied to compare the
treatments means (Steel et al., 1996).

3. Results
Rice production systems signicantly affected the soil physical
properties (Table 3). Maximum soil bulk density was recorded in
ooded rice and lowest in aerobic rice during both years (Table 3).
However, total porosity was the maximum in aerobic rice and
lowest in ooded rice in both years (Table 3).
Wheat stand establishment was also signicantly affected by
different wheat tillage systems after various rice production
systems (Table 4). Among the wheat tillage systems, deep tillage
(DT) took less time to start emergence which was followed by zero
tillage (ZT) while wheat sown on beds took maximum time to start
emergence in rst year; while during the second year, the inuence
of different tillage systems on time to start emergence was nonsignicant. However, rice production systems do not affected the
time to start emergence during both years (Table 4). Time to 50%
emergence (T50) and mean emergence time (MET) were lowest in
zero tillage followed by deep tillage during both years, while
among rice production systems, minimum T50 was recorded
following aerobic rice (AR) during rst year. However, wheat sown
on beds taken more day to complete 50% emergence and mean
emergence which was followed by conventional tillage in both

Table 3
Inuence of different rice production systems on soil physical properties.
Rice production
systems

Soil bulk density (g cm3)

20102011

20112012

20102011

20112012

Aerobic rice
Alternate wetting
and drying
Flooded rice

1.14c
1.37b

1.10c
1.33b

57a
48b

58a
50b

1.41a

1.43a

47c

46c

Total porosity (%)

Figures sharing the same letter in a column do not differ signicantly at p = 0.05.

M. Farooq, A. Nawaz / Soil & Tillage Research 141 (2014) 19

Table 4
Stand establishment of wheat as affected by different wheat tillage systems after various rice production systems.
20112012

20102011
AR

AWD

FR

Mean

AR

AWD

FR

Mean

Time to start emergence (days)

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

5.00
5.13
5.25
5.75
5.28

5.38
5.13
5.38
5.38
5.31

5.25
5.25
5.50
5.63
5.41

5.21BC
5.17C
5.38B
5.58A

5.00
5.25
5.25
5.00
5.13

5.00
5.25
5.13
5.38
5.19

5.25
5.00
5.00
5.25
5.13

5.08
5.17
5.13
5.21

Time to 50% emergence (days)

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

6.45
6.82
6.76
7.67
6.93C

6.63
6.67
7.09
7.76
7.04B

6.98
7.08
7.52
7.76
7.34A

6.69C
6.86C
7.12B
7.73A

6.54
6.60
6.93
6.93
6.75

6.81
6.90
6.80
6.81
6.83

6.62
6.69
6.86
6.84
6.75

6.66B
6.73AB
6.86A
6.86A

Mean emergence time (days)

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

8.36
8.96
8.35
9.35
8.75

7.85
8.67
9.28
9.45
8.81

8.95
8.75
9.24
9.31
9.06

8.39C
8.79BC
8.95AB
9.37A

8.37c
8.52bc
8.73a
8.66ab
8.57

8.63ab
8.74a
8.62ab
8.70ab
8.68

8.37c
8.40c
8.82a
8.78a
8.59

8.46B
8.55B
8.72A
8.71A

Figures sharing the same case letter, for a parameter, in a year do not differ signicantly at p = 0.05.
AR, aerobic rice; AWD, alternate wetting and drying; FR, ooded rice.

years. Differences among rice production systems were nonsignicant for time to 50% emergence in rst year and for mean
emergence time during both years (Table 4).
Regarding the weed dynamics, maximum density of lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.) was noted from wheat sown with
deep tillage after aerobic rice; whereas its minimum density was
recorded from zero tilled wheat after AWD-sown rice, followed by
zero-tilled wheat after ooded and aerobic rice and bed-sown
wheat after ooded rice and aerobic rice during rst year (Table 5).
During second year of experimentation, minimum density of
lambsquarters was noted from zero tilled wheat; whereas its
maximum density was observed from bed-sown wheat followed
by wheat sown through deep and conventional tillage respectively
(Table 5). Toothed dock (Rumex dentatus L.) density was lowest in
zero-tilled wheat sown after ooded rice; whereas its highest
density was recorded from wheat sown on beds after ooded rice
during rst year of experimentation (Table 5). During second year
of experimentation, lowest toothed dock density was observed in

bed-sown wheat followed by zero-tilled wheat; whereas its

density was greater in wheat sown after conventional tillage
followed by deep tillage (Table 5). Among rice production systems,
toothed dock density was lowest after aerobic rice in both years.
However, its density was higher after ooded rice which was
statistically similar with AWD in both years. Likewise, littleseed
canarygrass (Phalaris minor Retz.) density was lowest in bed-sown
after aerobic rice; whereas its highest density was recorded from
wheat sown with conventional tillage after AWD-rice during rst
year of experimentation (Table 5). Among rice production systems,
lowest littleseed canarygrass density was noted in aerobic rice;
being highest in AWD during rst year of experimentation. During
second year of experimentation, density of littleseed canarygrass
was more in zero-tilled wheat followed by deep tillage; whereas it
was highest in bed-sown wheat, which was statistically similar
with the conventional tilled wheat (Table 5).
During both years, minimum days to booting were recorded in
bed-sown wheat after ooded and aerobic rice respectively

Table 5
Weed density in different wheat tillage systems after different rice production systems.
20112012

20102011
AR

AWD

FR

Mean

AR

AWD

FR

Mean

Chenopodium album density (m2)

Zero tillage
13.0e
Deep tillage
109.0a
Conventional tillage
59.5b
Bed sowing
16.5e
Mean
49.5A

6.60e
56.0b
48.5bc
44.0bcd
38.8B

8.40e
21.0de
28.6cde
15.5e
18.4C

9.30D
62.0A
45.5B
25.3C

8.50
28.0
37.0
43.0
29.1

1.00
59.0
28.0
41.0
32.3

1.50
19.6
35.0
47.0
25.8

3.70B
35.5A
33.3A
43.7A

Rumex dentatus density (m2)

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

35.0f
39.0ef
62.9c
22.0g
39.7B

22.0g
13.5h
74.8b
70.8b
45.3A

5.50i
54.0d
41.3e
80.3a
45.3A

20.8C
35.5B
59.6A
57.7A

17.5
15.0
21.5
9.50
15.9B

18.5
18.5
23.5
15.0
18.9AB

16.5
27.0
34.0
18.0
23.9A

17.5BC
20.2AB
26.3A
14.2C

Phalaris minor density (m2)

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

48.5f
33.3h
45.8g
14.5i
35.5C

91.5b
82.8c
107.3a
66.5d
87.0A

85.0c
47.8fg
61.3e
46.0gf
60.0B

75.0A
54.6C
71.4B
42.3D

24.5
6.50
5.50
6.00
10.6

38.0
18.0
7.50
4.50
17.0

46.5
15.5
8.00
5.50
18.9

36.3A
13.3AB
7.0BC
5.3C

Figures sharing the same case letter, for a parameter, in a year do not differ signicantly at p = 0.05.
AR, aerobic rice; AWD, alternate wetting and drying; FR, ooded rice.

M. Farooq, A. Nawaz / Soil & Tillage Research 141 (2014) 19

Table 6
Phenological and yield related traits of wheat as affected by different wheat tillage systems after various rice production systems.
20112012

20102011
AR

AWD

FR

Mean

AR

AWD

FR

Mean

Days to booting (days)

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

91.88bc
89.13de
91.38c
89.00de
90.34B

92.00bc
92.63b
93.75a
90.00d
92.09A

89.38de
92.00bc
92.25bc
88.38e
90.50B

91.08B
91.25B
92.46A
89.13C

91.63c
91.25cd
91.75bc
90.25f
91.22B

91.50cd
91.25cd
92.25ab
90.50ef
91.38B

91.00de
92.75a
92.38a
90.25f
91.59A

91.38C
91.75B
92.13A
90.33D

Final plant height (cm)

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

96.18ab
95.48ab
92.33bcd
92.60bcd
94.14A

83.88f
94.98abc
88.15e
91.07cde
89.52B

79.70g
97.98a
92.35bcd
88.66de
89.67B

86.58C
96.14A
90.94B
90.78B

81.29d
98.52a
94.51ab
98.00a
93.08A

89.12bc
90.56bc
89.08bc
90.85bc
89.90B

81.05d
91.33bc
93.44ab
87.04cd
88.21B

83.82B
93.47A
92.34A
91.96A

Productive tillers (m2)

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

422.8a
378.5abc
349.0bc
241.0g
347.8A

Grains per spike

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

36.2c
34.2cde
39.1ab
36.7abc
36.5A

39.4a
36.3bc
31.7ef
35.2cd
35.6AB

35.3cd
36.0c
32.8def
30.9f
33.7B

1000-grain weight (g)

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

37.7
38.9
36.4
36.4
37.4

37.8
38.1
36.5
36.2
37.2

38.4
38.4
36.9
37.5
37.8

333.5cde
342.0cd
288.0ef
337.5cde
325.3B

243.0fg
331.5de
294.0e
392.5ab
315.3B

333.1
350.7
310.3
323.7

349.5a
318.0bc
295.5de
321.3bc
321.1A

280.5ef
355.5a
324.0b
327.0b
321.8A

295.0de
347.0a
267.5f
304.0cd
303.4B

308.3B
340.2A
295.7C
317.4B

37.0A
35.5AB
34.5B
34.2B

35.2
35.4
35.4
34.9
35.2

34.8
35.1
35.4
34.9
35.0

34.8
35.5
35.0
34.8
35.0

34.9B
35.3A
35.3A
34.9B

38.0A
38.5A
36.6B
36.7B

35.4
36.0
34.9
34.3
35.1

34.7
35.3
35.0
33.3
34.6

34.3
35.4
35.1
33.2
34.5

34.8B
35.6A
35.0B
33.6C

Figures sharing the same case letter, for a parameter, in a year do not differ signicantly at p = 0.05.
AR, aerobic rice; AWD, alternate wetting and drying; FR, ooded rice.

(Table 6). Maximum days to booting were noted in wheat sown by

conventional tillage after AWD-sown rice during rst year;
however during second year, wheat sown through deep tillage
followed by conventional tillage after ooded rice took maximum
days to reach booting stage and both these were statistically
similar with conventional tillage after AWD in second year
(Table 6). During both years, plant height was highest in deep
tillage; however, it was similar with conventional tillage and bed
sowing during the second year. Lowest plant height was recorded
in zero tillage during both years. Among rice production systems,
maximum plant height was observed after aerobic rice. Interaction showed that maximum plant height was noted in deep tillage
after ooded rice followed by zero tillage and deep tillage after
aerobic rice while it was lowest in zero tillage after ooded rice
during rst year (Table 6). During the second year, highest plant
height was noted in deep tillage followed by bed sowing and
conventional tillage after aerobic rice; while it was lowest in zero
tillage following both ooded and aerobic rice respectively
(Table 6). Maximum productive tillers were noted in zero tillage
after AR followed by bed-sown wheat after FR during rst year.
However, during second year, deep tillage after AWD-sown rice
followed by zero tillage after AR and deep tillage after FR produced
more productive tillers. Minimum productive tillers were noted in
bed sowing after aerobic rice during rst year and conventional
tillage after ooded rice during second year of experimentation
(Table 6).
Zero-tilled wheat after AWD-sown rice followed by conventional-tilled wheat after aerobic rice produced maximum grains
per spike; whereas lesser grains per spike were noted in bed-sown
wheat after ooded rice during rst year. During the second year of

experimentation, more grains per spike were noted from deep and
conventional tillage than zero tillage and bed sowing (Table 6).
However, 1000-grain weight was highest in deep tillage during
both years of experimentation; however, it was similar with zero
tillage during rst year (Table 6). During rst year, lowest 1000grain weight was noted in conventional sowing followed by bed
sowing; however during second year it was lowest in bed-sown
wheat (Table 6).
Maximum grain and biological yields were recorded in zero
tillage after aerobic rice during rst year; whereas during second
year, more grain and biological yields were noted from deep tillage,
which was similar to conventional tillage for grain yield, and was
followed by zero tillage and conventional tillage for biological yield
(Table 7). Among rice production systems, highest biological and
grain yield were noted from wheat crop sown after AR during rst
year; results being non-signicant for second year (Table 7).
Water use and resource use efciencies were highest in zero
tilled wheat after aerobic rice during the rst year. Among rice
production systems, highest values of water use and resource use
efciencies were recorded from wheat raised after aerobic rice;
whereas these were minimum in wheat raised after ooded rice
during both years (Table 7). Among wheat tillage systems, water
use efciency was highest in deep tillage during both years;
however it was followed by conventional tillage during second
year. Resource use efciency was highest in wheat raised with zero
tillage in both years; however being similar with conventional
tillage in second year. Minimum resource use efciency was
observed in bed-sown wheat in both years (Table 7). During both
experimental years, maximum net benets were recorded from
zero-tilled wheat sown after aerobic rice (Table 8).

M. Farooq, A. Nawaz / Soil & Tillage Research 141 (2014) 19

Table 7
Grain yield, biological yield, harvest index, water use efciency and resource use efciency as affected by different wheat tillage systems after various rice production systems.
20112012

20102011
AR
Grain yield (t ha1)
Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean
Biological yield (t ha1)
Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

AWD

FR

Mean

AR

AWD

FR

Mean

4.9a
4.4b
4.2c
3.5f
4.3A

3.9d
4.6b
3.9d
3.9de
4.1B

3.7e
4.2c
3.5f
4.0cd
3.9C

4.2B
4.4A
3.9C
3.8C

3.7
3.9
3.9
3.4
3.7

3.3
3.6
3.9
3.4
3.5

3.3
4.0
3.5
3.3
3.5

3.4B
3.8A
3.8A
3.4B

10.8a
10.4b
9.7c
7.2ef
9.5A

6.7h
9.7c
6.8gh
7.1fg
7.5B

7.1fg
8.9d
6.3i
7.5e
7.4B

8.2B
9.6A
7.6C
7.3D

6.7
7.1
6.0
5.9
6.4

6.5
6.6
6.1
4.9
6.0

6.1
6.5
6.6
4.8
6.0

6.4A
6.7A
6.2A
5.2B

Water use efciency (kg m3)

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

0.21a
0.19bc
0.18de
0.147i
0.18A

0.17f
0.20b
0.17f
0.167fg
0.17B

0.16gh
0.182cd
0.15hi
0.172ef
0.16C

0.18B
0.19A
0.17C
0.16C

0.16
0.18
0.17
0.15
0.16

0.14
0.16
0.17
0.15
0.15

0.14
0.17
0.15
0.14
0.15

0.15B
0.17A
0.16AB
0.15B

Resource use efciency

Zero tillage
Deep tillage
Conventional tillage
Bed sowing
Mean

1.70a
1.06c
1.20b
0.67h
1.16A

1.01cd
1.08c
0.93ef
0.82g
0.96B

0.98de
0.90fg
0.71h
0.86fg
0.86C

1.23A
1.01B
0.94C
0.79D

1.13
0.83
1.00
0.69
0.91A

0.91
0.70
1.02
0.62
0.81B

0.88
0.80
0.90
0.60
0.80B

0.97A
0.78B
0.97A
0.64C

Figures sharing the same case letter, for a parameter, in a year do not differ signicantly at p = 0.05.
AR, aerobic rice; AWD, alternate wetting and drying; FR, ooded rice.

Table 8
Economic analysis different wheat tillage systems after various rice production systems.
Grain yield
(kg ha1)

Straw
yield (kg ha1)

Adjusted grain
yield (kg ha1)

Adjusted straw
yield (kg ha1)

Gross
income ($)

Total xed
cost ($)

Total variable
cost ($)

Total
cost ($)

Net
benets ($)

ARZT
AWDZT
FRZT
ARDT
AWDZT
FRZT
ARCT
AWDCT
FRCT
ARBS
AWDBS
FRBS

20102011
4904
3942
3738
4440
4624
4209
4223
3963
3505
3455
3889
4021

10,813
6651
7098
10,375
9668
8873
9662
6757
6251
7177
7105
7525

4413
3548
3364
3996
4161
3788
3801
3567
3154
3110
3500
3619

9731
5986
6388
9338
8702
7985
8696
6081
5626
6459
6395
6772

1645.1
1230.6
1202.4
1515.8
1527.5
1393.6
1432.5
1240.4
1109.2
1139.3
1238.5
1288.6

524
524
524
524
524
524
524
524
524
524
524
524

32.1
32.1
32.1
155.6
155.6
155.6
69.2
69.2
69.2
106.2
106.2
106.2

556.1
556.1
556.1
679.6
679.6
679.6
593.2
593.2
593.2
630.2
630.2
630.2

1089.0
674.5
646.3
836.2
847.9
714.0
839.3
647.2
516.1
509.1
608.3
658.4

ARZT
AWDZT
FRZT
ARDT
AWDZT
FRZT
ARCT
AWDCT
FRCT
ARBS
AWDBS
FRBS
Remarks

20112012
3738
3252
3263
3921
3625
3955
3871
3904
3526
3394
3401
3347
$10.5/40 kg

6684
6476
6066
7075
6642
6485
6013
6102
6567
5865
4886
4819
$2/40 kg

3364
2927
2937
3528
3262
3560
3484
3514
3173
3055
3061
3012
10% reduction
to bring at
farm level

6016
5829
5459
6367
5978
5836
5412
5492
5910
5279
4398
4337
10% reduction
to bring at
farm level

1184.1
1059.8
1044.0
1244.7
1155.3
1226.4
1185.3
1197.1
1128.6
1066.0
1023.5
1007.68

524
524
524
524
524
524
524
524
524
524
524
524

32.1
32.1
32.1
155.6
155.6
155.6
69.2
69.2
69.2
106.2
106.2
106.2

556.1
556.1
556.1
679.6
679.6
679.6
593.2
593.2
593.2
630.2
630.2
630.2

628.0
503.7
487.9
565.1
475.7
546.8
592.1
603.9
535.5
435.7
393.3
377.5

Treatments

AR, aerobic rice; AWD, alternate wetting and drying; FR, ooded rice; ZT, zero tilled wheat; CT, conventional tillage in wheat; DT, deep tillage in wheat; BS, bed sowing in
wheat.

M. Farooq, A. Nawaz / Soil & Tillage Research 141 (2014) 19

4. Discussion
Rice production systems signicantly affected the soil physical
properties and better soil physical environment was noticed after
aerobic rice than ooded rice during both years (Table 3) as
puddling-induced hard pan, during seedbed preparation for
ooded rice, was not present in aerobic rice culture. Puddling
disturbs the soil physical environment due to increase in the soil
bulk density (McDonald et al., 2006), which hinders the stand
establishment of the post-rice crops as has been observed in this
study (Table 4). Behera et al. (2009) opined that puddling causes
dispersion of soil particles and upon settling, these particles reduce
the total porosity of soil resulting in soil compaction. They also
argued that puddling may increase the bulk density due to soil
shrinkage at lower moisture (Behera et al., 2009). This puddlinginduced increase in the soil bulk density, in ooded rice (Table 3)
delayed the stand establishment (Table 4) due to restricted root
growth (McDonald et al., 2006). Tillage systems also affected the
stand establishment of wheat crop signicantly (Table 4). Stand
establishment in zero tilled and deep tillage wheat was better than
other wheat tillage systems (Table 4) as primed seeds were used in
the study. Seed priming helps in improving the crop stand
establishment under a wide range of eld conditions (Farooq et al.,
2006, 2007, 2008b). Besides this, early stand establishment in zero
tilled wheat may be due to lesser seed depth than other three
wheat tillage systems, while in deep tillage better stand
establishment may be due to ne pulverization of soil before
wheat sowing, which resulted in better seed soil contact and
improved soil aeration. Although seed soil contact was low in zero
tillage, but primed seeds exhibited rapid emergence because of
sufcient availability of seed moisture available for radicle
protrusion, and seeds were no more dependent on the available
soil moisture in zero-tilled plots.
Weeds dynamics were also inuenced by different wheat tillage
systems after different rice production systems (Table 5). Amongst
the rice production systems, lowest lambsquarters density was
observed after ooded rice; whereas densities of both toothed dock
and littleseed canarygrass were lowest after aerobic rice. Actually,
lambsquarters seeds may lose their viability in ooded conditions,
which resulted in substantial decrease in its density in wheat;
whereas seeds of toothed dock and littleseed canarygrass may lose
viability if are continuously exposed to light and uctuating
temperatures as happened after aerobic rice conditions (Table 5).
Broad leaf weeds, lambsquarters and toothed dock, dominated in
deep tillage, conventional tillage and bed sowing (Table 5).
Seemingly, soil disturbance in deep and conventional tillage
brought the seeds of these weeds to the shallow depth by exposing
them to sunlight and uctuating temperature, resulting in rapid
emergence of these weed seeds (Singh et al., 2012). However,
narrow leaf weed like littleseed canarygrass dominated in zero
tillage (Table 5) as was earlier reported by Walia and Brar (2006).
Differences in weed ora in conventional and conservational
tillage may be due to change in sequential pattern of emergence of
weeds in these contrasting production systems (Samarajeewa
et al., 2005). In this study, overall, we observed less weed
infestation in wheat raised on beds than other wheat tillage
systems. The top soil of the furrows was dressed on the top of beds,
which buried the weed seeds into the depth from where seeds
could not emerge out (Ram et al., 2005; Mollah et al., 2009).
Wheat plants raised on beds were able to complete different
phenological events rapidly as has been indicated by fewer days
required for booting in bed sowing (Table 6), while among rice
production systems, wheat raised after aerobic rice required less
time to reach booting. Less time to booting in bed sown wheat may
be due to better light penetration and interception, plants raised on
beds were thus able to acquire thermal degree days, required for

switching to next phase, rapidly than other tillage systems (Quanqi

et al., 2008). Likewise, wheat tillage systems and rice production
systems signicantly affected the morphological and yield related
traits of wheat (Tables 6 and 7). Amongst rice production systems,
yield related traits were better in wheat sown after aerobic than
other rice production systems (Tables 6 and 7). Water use and
resource use efciencies were also the better in wheat raised after
aerobic rice; where these were minimum in wheat sown after rice
planted in conventionally puddled eld (Tables 6 and 7). Better
biological and grain yield after aerobic rice (Table 7) was the
outcome of vigorous growth of wheat crop after aerobic rice, while
poor physical structure after ooded rice caused poor wheat
growth resulting in yield decrease. Poor wheat performance after
ooded rice may be due to changes in soil porosity (Table 3), which
affected the moisture retention properties of soil during wheat
season thus affecting root and shoots growth of upcoming wheat
crop (McDonald et al., 2006). Puddling cause subsurface compaction (Saharawat et al., 2010), which may the hinder the root
development of post-rice wheat crop (Sur et al., 1981; Whitbread
et al., 2000; Ray and Gupta, 2001), which cause decrease in
nutrients and water uptake (Ishaq et al., 2001; Kukal and Aggarwal,
2003). In an earlier study, root biomass was increased by 48% in
wheat planted after maize than rice in puddy eld (Sur et al., 1981).
In another study, Kumar et al. (2008) reported that wheat yield was
decreased when sown after ooded rice than aerobic rice. Likewise,
root volume and grain yield was reduced in wheat when it was
grown after puddling in rice which may be due to poor physical
status of the soil (Tomar et al., 2006) developed as result of soil
compaction created due to puddling (Bajpai and Tripathi, 2000).
Among wheat tillage system, yield related traits were improved
in deep tillage than other wheat tillage systems (Tables 6 and 7).
Better stand establishment in deep tillage resulted in more number
of tillers per plant which resulted in highest crop biomass in deep
tillage. Better grain yield from deep tillage may be due to higher
1000-grain weight in deep tillage accomplished with better crop
growth as compared to other treatments. Deep tillage may help to
break the hard pan developed by puddling. It reduces soil strength,
promotes deep rooting and reduces loss of subsoil N, which results
in increased rice and wheat yield (Kundu et al., 1996). Penetration
resistance with in plough pan is reduced due to deep tillage
(Busscher et al., 2000). Deep tillage results in lower soil resistance
which favors better root growth (Khan et al., 1998). This results in
better acquisition of water (Holloway, 1991) and increases crop
yield (Cassel et al., 1990). If the roots penetrate deeper, the crop can
tolerate the drought condition and yield potential is maintained
during periods of low or no rainfall due to deeper root penetration
(Ahmed et al., 1996). Many scientists reported that deep tillage in
post rice elds can increase wheat yields (Kundu et al., 1996;
Hobbs et al., 2002; Mahajan and Bhagat, 2006) due to better root
development resulting in better crop growth. Water use efciency
was also highest in deep tillage while among rice production
systems; it was highest in aerobic rice and lowest after ooded. In
another study, Mrabet (2000) found that water use efciency was
highest in deep tillage with chisel plough.
Resource use efciency was the maximum in zero tillage, while
among rice production systems, it was the maximum after aerobic
rice. Similarly, highest net benets were obtained from zero-tilled
wheat after aerobic rice. Earlier, Gupta and Seth (2007) and
Erenstein et al. (2008) reported that resource conserving
technologies such as ZT may help to maximize the crop
productivity, increase input use efciency, decrease production
cost, reduce energy consumption and nally the income of the
farmers. In several earlier studies, cost saving of 516% has been
reported in zero-tilled wheat than conventional tillage (Thakur
et al., 2004; Erenstein et al., 2007b). Moreover, fuel saving of 62
91% has also been reported by many researchers in zero tillage

M. Farooq, A. Nawaz / Soil & Tillage Research 141 (2014) 19

compared with conventional tillage in wheat (Rautaray, 2005;

Erenstein et al., 2008).
Grain weight and grains per spike were less during second year
than the rst year, which caused some reduction in grain yield
during second year of experimentation. This decrease in grain
weight and grain number may be due to slight increase in daily
maximum and minimum temperatures during reproductive and
grain lling phases during second year (Table 2). Any increase in
temperature, during reproductive and grain lling phases, causes
signicant decrease in grain yield of wheat (Farooq et al., 2011c;
Nawaz et al., 2013).
5. Conclusions
Soil physical health is disturbed by puddling in ooded rice;
whereas weed biota in following wheat crop is reduced when
planted after ooded rice than aerobic rice. Spectrum of broad leaf
weeds was more in deep and conventional tillage while narrow leaf
weeds were dominating in zero tillage. Better stand establishment,
water use efciency, resource use efciency and yield was
observed in wheat following aerobic rice culture while amongst
the wheat tillage systems, stand establishment, morphological and
yield related traits and water use efciency was highest in deep
tillage. However, highest resource use efciency was achieved in
zero tillage wheat. Maximum net income was observed in zero
tillage wheat following aerobic rice culture. In crux, zero tilled
wheat after aerobic rice culture is the best resource conservation
technology; whereas deep tillage in ricewheat cropping system
may ameliorate the puddling-induced edaphic problems.
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