OPTIMUM SEED RATE OF WHEAT IN AVAILABLE SOIL MOISTURE UNDER RAINFED CONDITIONS.

A study was conducted at Soil and Water Conservation Research Institute, Chakwal, Pakistan during 2003-04 and 2004-05 to find out optimum seed rate of wheat (triticum aestivum L.) under varied annual precipitation for better utilization of available moisture. Field was ploughed up before cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) green manuring in kharif season to conserve precipitation for wheat planting in rabi season. Four seed rates (62, 74, 86 and 98 kg/ha) were tried to get different plant densities. Basal fertilizer was applied to all treatments @ 120-80-60 kg N-P2O5-K2O per hectare. To estimate optimum seed rate, 95 percent level of relative yield was used for prediction. The results revealed that 80 kg proved as predicted optimum seed rate producing higher grain yield (2545 kg/ha) in the year 2003-04 with annual rainfall of 327 mm. In second year (2004-05) 90 kg seed rate was predicted as optimum yielding higher (3697 kg/ha) with annual rainfall of 464 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]