Response of Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) to Different Irrigation Frequencies for Improved Growth and Grain Yield

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during Rabi 2024–25 at the Agronomy Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, to evaluate the effect of irrigation frequency on growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cv. Imdad-2005. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications and five irrigation regimes: I₀ = control (soaking irrigation only), I₁ = two irrigations, I₂ = three irrigations, I₃ = four irrigations and I₄ = five irrigations. Five irrigations produced the highest plant height (90.65 cm), spike length (11.08 cm), grains spike⁻¹ (39.69), grain weight spike⁻¹ (1.909 g), seed index (48.11 g), biological yield (17,956.05 kg ha⁻¹), and grain yield (7,182.42 kg ha⁻¹). Four irrigations resulted in 78.45 cm plant height and 5,985.50 kg ha⁻¹ grain yield, while three and two irrigations produced 5,200.84 and 4,053.49 kg ha⁻¹ grain yield, respectively. The control treatment recorded the lowest values, including 56.46 cm plant height and 1,646.59 kg ha⁻¹ grain yield. Overall, increasing irrigation frequency progressively enhanced wheat growth and productivity. The five-irrigation regime consistently produced the highest values for all measured traits and was therefore identified as the most effective treatment for maximizing growth and grain yield of wheat cv. Imdad-2005 under the conditions of the study.