ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Agron.

Sec. Agroecological Cropping Systems

Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fagro.2025.1535701

This article is part of the Research TopicAgroecology in Action: Case Studies, Challenges and Best PracticesView all 3 articles

Enhancing wheat resilience in subtropical agroecosystems through climate-resilient agriculture strategies

Provisionally accepted
Raj  K JatRaj K Jat1Vijay  Singh MeenaVijay Singh Meena2*S  PazhanisamyS Pazhanisamy1R  K SohaneR K Sohane3Ratnesh Kumar  JhaRatnesh Kumar Jha4R  N SinghR N Singh3Dr Shubham  DurgudeDr Shubham Durgude1Suneel  KumarSuneel Kumar1Illathur Rajesh  ReddyIllathur Rajesh Reddy1K  M ChoudharyK M Choudhary1Sunita  K MeenaSunita K Meena4Brijendu  KumarBrijendu Kumar3Umesh  N UmeshUmesh N Umesh3Dr Ranjan  Kumar SinghDr Ranjan Kumar Singh3Ravikant  ChaubeyRavikant Chaubey3Mukesh  KumarMukesh Kumar3Vinod  KumarVinod Kumar3Kumari  ShardaKumari Sharda3Susheel  SinghSusheel Singh3Rama  K SinghRama K Singh3Seema  KumariSeema Kumari3K  M SinghK M Singh3Govind  KumarGovind Kumar3Ravindra  K TiwariRavindra K Tiwari4Vinita  KashyapVinita Kashyap4Suneeta  KushwahaSuneeta Kushwaha4Sripriya  DasSripriya Das4Prem  PrakashPrem Prakash4Shubham  BhagatShubham Bhagat1Rodda  C DeviRodda C Devi4Amit  K LenkaAmit K Lenka1Bharati  UpadhayaBharati Upadhaya4Sumit  K SinghSumit K Singh4SANCHITA  GHOSHSANCHITA GHOSH4Anup  DasAnup Das5
  • 1CIMMYT-Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA),, Samastipur, Bihar, India
  • 2Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), New Delhi, India
  • 3Bihar Agricultural University (BAU), Bhagalpur, India
  • 4Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Samastipur, Bihar, India
  • 5ICAR-Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patana, Bihar, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Wheat production in subtropical agroecosystems is increasingly challenged by climateinduced stresses such as lodging, terminal heat, and erratic rainfall patterns. This study was conducted during the 2023-24 rabi season across eight locations, including the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) Research Station at Pusa and seven project hubs located in the districts of Munger, Nawada, Nalanda, Katihar, Purnea, Samastipur, and Vaishali in Bihar, India, evaluated climateresilient agronomic strategies to enhance wheat resilience and productivity. A randomized block design with 20 replications was used to assess the interactive effects of tillage practices (conventional tillage [CT], zero tillage [ZT], and permanent raised beds [PRB]), sowing times (early vs. timely), and wheat varieties (HD2967, DBW187, and DBW316) on crop performance. Results indicated that PRB and ZT strategies significantly (p < 0.05) reduced (80-90%) risk of lodging and increased (15 to 25%) in wheat grain yield than conventional tillage (CT). Furthermore, early sowing (first fortnight of November) and the use of lodging-resilient varieties of HD2967 and DBW187 reduced the crop lodging, improved crop performance, and increased wheat grain yield than late sowing (second fortnight of November) and the DBW316 variety, respectively. Correlation and regression analysis studies exposed a weak positive correlation between yield and wind speed (r=0.133) and a stronger positive correlation effect with rainfall (r=0.342) during early sowing crops, with stepwise regression indicating yield gains of 0.32 t/ha and 1.15 t/ha under optimum wind speed and rainfall, respectively (r =0.68). In contrast, late sowing exhibited negative correlations, with yield declining by 0.39 t/ha and 0.12 t/ha under aberrant wind and rainfall condition (r = 0.52). The study emphasized the significance of adopting climate-resilient agronomic strategies, such as zero tillage (ZT), appropriate variety selection (HD2967 and DBW187), and early sowing, to enhance the sustainability and resilience of wheat production under adverse climatic conditions.

Keywords: Crop establishment method, lodging indices, Sowing window, Varietal selection, Climate change

Received: 27 Nov 2024; Accepted: 27 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Jat, Meena, Pazhanisamy, Sohane, Jha, Singh, Durgude, Kumar, Reddy, Choudhary, Meena, Kumar, Umesh, Singh, Chaubey, Kumar, Kumar, Sharda, Singh, Singh, Kumari, Singh, Kumar, Tiwari, Kashyap, Kushwaha, Das, Prakash, Bhagat, Devi, Lenka, Upadhaya, Singh, GHOSH and Das. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Vijay Singh Meena, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), New Delhi, India

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