Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 October 2008
Field experiments were conducted for 4 years to study the yield of ‘kharif’ and ‘rabi’ crops grown in sequence on two soils differing in water-holding capacity. The results indicated that drought caused greater reduction in yield of rainy-season crops on loamy sand than on sandy loam soil. In low retentivity soil it was more profitable to raise a single crop of wheat on soil-stored water. In sandy loam soil of higher retentivity, two crops a year gave much higher yields than a single crop. Of the sequences tried, maize followed by wheat gave the highest and most stable yields. For ‘rabi’ crops, stored water showed a better yield response than an equivalent amount of rain during the growing season.