Impact of climate change on wheat productivity in Ludhiana and Bathinda of Punjab

Climate is changing world over and is expected to continue to do so in future also and has potential impact on crop productivity. Punjab has a distinct sub-tropical climate with most rainfall occurring during summer mansoon. The main factors limiting wheat production in this region are rainfall and temperature. To investigate the weather variability impacts on wheat productivity in Ludhiana and Bathinda of Punjab, the present investigation was undertaken at Ludhiana and Bathinda with three dates of sowing i.e. 30th Oct. (D1), 15th Nov. (D2) and 30th Nov.(D3) and the three irrigation levels i.e. I1 (recommended schedule), I2 (one additional irrigation, after CRI stage) and I3 (delayed irrigation by one week after heading). Two wheat cultivars viz. PBW 343 (V1) and WH 542 (V2) were also taken for studies and experiments were conducted during 2008–09 and 2009–10. A drastic decline in yield was observed during 2009–10 as compared to 2008–09 at both the locations. The crop sown on 30th Oct. and 15th Nov. gave better yield than the crop sown on 30th Nov. The reduction in yield was more during 2009–10 at Bathinda as compared to Ludhiana. The analysis showed no significant effect in different irrigation schedules under three dates of sowing. Cultivar PBW 343 performed better than WH 542 during both the years under study and application of one additional irrigation after CRI stage increased grain yield over recommended irrigation schedule.