Effects of mulching on growth and yield components of selected varieties of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under field condition

Wheat is facing increased high temperature during its grain filling period in Bangladesh which reduces yield drastically. Mulching may help to mitigate this problem. Therefore, a field experiment was carried out at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from November 2015 to March 2016 to find out growth and yield performance of wheat as influenced by mulching. The experiment comprised of two factors viz., variety and mulching. The variety comprised of BARI Gom-26, BARI Gom-27 and BARI Gom-28. Mulching comprised of four different levels of treatments viz.no mulch + no irrigation (control), water hyacinth mulch + no irrigation, rice straw mulch + no irrigation and two irrigations at CRI and flowering stage. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. BARI Gom-28 showed the highest values in growth parameters (plant height, number of total tillers hill-1, LAI, chlorophyll content and total dry matter) at 30, 45 and 60 DAS. On the other hand, when mulching was compared, rice straw mulch gave higher yield compared to other treatments at 30, 45 and 60 DAS. The interaction effect of variety and mulching showed significant in relation to yield and yield components except plant height, spike length, 1000- grain weight and harvest index (%). The tallest plant (93.20 cm) was obtained from the interaction of BARI Gom-28 and rice straw mulch. The highest number of total tillers hill-1 (4.80), number of effective tillers hill-1 (4.57), spike length (10.23), number of spikelets spike-1 (21.15), 1000-grain weight (48.54 g), grain yield (5.20 t ha-1), straw yield (7.27 t ha-1), and harvest index (41.71%) were obtained from the interaction of BARI Gom-28 and rice straw mulch. The lowest grain yield was obtained from BARI Gom-26 and control (no mulch + no irrigation). It may be concluded from the results of the study that, BARI Gom-28 with rice straw mulching treatment can be used for successful cultivation of wheat.