EIARResearch Knowledge bankDigitizing agricultural Research Service

• Sowing in rows facilitates effective plant protection measures, rouging operations, and field inspection;
• Spacing between rows can be 10and25cm;
• Under optimum conditions, drill the seed with a depth of 3-5 cm for sowing.
• Deeper sowing can be done in drier conditions and in sandy soils than in clay soils; and
• The seed crop is sown in rows by mechanical drillers, which allows desired quantity of seed to be planted at uniform depth.

The optimum seed rates for wheat depends on type of cultivar, tillering ability, 1000 seed weight, germination percentage, method of planting, and area of production. For seed production fields, use lower seed rate for higher multiplication factors, but to lower yield per unit area. Higher multiplication factors lead to rapid seed increase i.e., more seed harvested per kilogram of seed planted, and farmers will benefit from the improved variety earlier. Low seed rates do not only increase the multiplication factor, but also often improve seed quality because a lower number of

plants per unit of land receive better nutrition, thus producing better quality seed. Practically, very lower seed rates may be used when planting early generations when extensive agronomic practices are used, but certified seed is planted at the normal or slightly lower seed rate.