International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Kanwal Preet Singh Attwal and Amardeep Singh Dhiman

abstract
The paper focusses on the study of Wheat Phenology and the factors affecting the Wheat yield. A study is being conducted to develop a model for prediction of wheat yield in Patiala district of Punjab, India. The prediction model has been developed based on different meteorological and agronomic factors that affect the wheat plant and hence the wheat yield. Various factors have different effects at different stages of plant growth and the yield is affected accordingly. For this, it is pertinent to understand the phenology of the wheat crop. Phenology is the study of different stages of development of a plant. The current study aims at providing an insight to the phenology of the wheat crop. The paper explains the materials used and methods adopted for the research. Wheat crop is grown in a 250 square yard plot. The agricultural practices as prescribed by Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana in Package of Practices for Crops of Punjab Rabi 2015-16 are followed. Different stages of the plant growth are noted and photographs are taken (or sketches are drawn) to depict the various stages. A literature survey is done to study the various factors that affect the wheat yield at different stages. Nine stages of wheat plant growth are studied which are divided into four phenological phases according to the effect of different factors. A large number of factors affect the wheat yield and they can be broadly categorised into three types – Meteorological factors such as temperature and rainfall, Agronomic factors such as soil type, seed variety, etc., and weather disturbances such as hail storm.