Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 March 2009
Height variability in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars permits growing them in systematic mixed stands and such mixtures are reported to lead to better utilization of solar radiation. Studies on such wheat mixtures are limited. A field experiment was therefore conducted for two wheat seasons (1974–5 and 1975–6) at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, to compare the yield potentials of the mixed and pure stands of three spring wheat cultivars varying in plant height. Two kinds of canopy stands, namely, pyramidal and columnar, were created by making appropriate row arrangements of the cultivars while seeding. Mixed stands gave significantly higher straw yields and the grain yield was also significantly higher than the highest yielding cultivar in its pure stand at a high rate of nitrogen application (120 kg N/ha).