Water use and water-use efficiency of chickpea and lentil in a Mediterranean environment

2000 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 295 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Zhang ◽  
M. Pala ◽  
T. Oweis ◽  
H. Harris

Water supply is a major constraint to crop production for both chickpea and lentil in West Asia and North Africa, both of which have a Mediterranean climate. This study examined water use and water-use efficiency of chickpea and lentil from 3 experiments over 12 seasons, 1986–87 to 1997–98, in northern Syria. The strongest determinant of grain yield of chickpea and lentil and their water use under rainfed conditions is rainfall and its distribution. Large inter-seasonal fluctuations in weather resulted in larger inter-seasonal fluctuations in water use, and therefore in production of legumes. Seasonal evapotranspiration (ET) was significantly correlated with seasonal rainfall for both chickpea and lentil. Mean ET over 12 seasons was 268 mm for chickpea and 259 mm for lentil. The depth of extraction was, on average, 120 cm for chickpea and 80 cm for lentil. The average extractable soil water was 125 mm for chickpea and 90 mm for lentil over 12 seasons. For lentil, water-use efficiency for dry matter (WUEdm) and for seed yield (WUEgr) was 13.7 and 3.8 kg/ha.mm, respectively; for chickpea, WUEdm and WUEgr, 8.7 and 3.2 kg/ha.mm, respectively. Supplemental irrigation can significantly increase grain yield of both chickpea and lentil. However, there was less increase in grain yield in the wet seasons than in the dry seasons. Estimated soil evaporation was 80 mm for lentil and 105 mm for chickpea. The average transpiration efficiency was 7.1 kg/ha.mm for lentil and 6.4 kg/ha.mm for chickpea. Estimated potential transpiration efficiency for seed yield was 11.8 kg/ha.mm for lentil and 12.2 kg/ha.mm for chickpea. Both the average water-use efficiency and potential transpiration efficiency for lentil and chickpea were lower than those for cereals. Despite this, the rotation benefits and higher economic return provide the potential for these legumes to replace fallow or to break continuous cereal cropping in the region's farming system.

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (12) ◽  
pp. 1197
Author(s):  
Zhang Mingming ◽  
Dong Baodi ◽  
Qiao Yunzhou ◽  
Yang Hong ◽  
Wang Yakai ◽  
...  

Water shortage is a limiting factor to crop production in North China. Mulching is a widely used approach to conserve soil water and improve crop yield. A 2-year field experiment was conducted at the Nanpi Eco-Agricultural Experimental Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2014–16, in which yields of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in a treatment with subsoil plastic film mulch were compared with non-mulch. The mulch treatment produced a 16.1% higher grain yield than the non-mulch treatment. The increase in grain yield was primarily due to a 10.1–10.9% increase in number of spikes per m2 and a 4.7–5.1% increase in number of grains per spike. Plants in the mulch treatment showed greater dry matter (DM) accumulation but similar harvest index. Yield improvement did not depend on increasing DM translocation, but was significantly related to DM accumulation at different growth stages. Increased DM accumulation before wintering, from jointing to heading and from anthesis to maturity, enhanced grain yield by promoting increased number of spikes and number of grains per spike. Soil evaporation was lower by 31.1% and transpiration increased by 28.0% in the mulch treatment, resulting in 8.9–9.4% higher water-use efficiency. Our results indicate that a subsoil plastic film mulch can effectively improve winter wheat yield and water-use efficiency under rain-fed conditions.


OCL ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Rao Muhammad Samran Gul ◽  
Muhammad Sajid ◽  
Saeed Rauf ◽  
Hassan Munir ◽  
Muhammad Shehzad ◽  
...  

Global climate change is posing threats for sustainable crop production. Supra-optimal temperature and water stress are among few causes of global climate change which can cause significant damage to yield in various crop species including sunflower. Therefore, a study was initiated to develop new sunflower hybrids which may have higher seed yield and water use efficiency in current scenario of global climate change. Parental inbred lines were selected on the basis of cell membrane injury and cuticular waxes; these parental lines were used to develop various cross combinations. These cross combinations were evaluated at two locations and seasons. Some newly developed hybrids (H7, H8, H9) showed lesser days to flowering, high water use efficiency, high or comparable yield, kernel to seed% and oil contents% than high yielding commercial check Hysun.33. Water use efficiency (WUE) showed significant and high correlation with seed yield in both seasons. WUE decreased in spring season when compared with the autumn season due to high evapo-transpirational losses. General combining ability analyses showed that parental lines i.e. C.249 and RH.344 were the best combiners for water use efficiency and seed yield and may be exploited for the commercial development of drought resistant hybrids.


1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. Miller ◽  
A. M. Johnston ◽  
S. A. Brandt ◽  
C. L. McDonald ◽  
D. A. Derksen ◽  
...  

Sunola (Helianthus annuus L.) emerged in the early 1990s as a new drought- and heat-tolerant oilseed crop option for prairie producers. This study was conducted to compare the agronomic performance of sunola with that of canola (Brassica napus L. and B. rapa L.) and mustard (B. juncea L.). In 1993 and 1994 a spring seeding date experiment comparing crop maturity and grain yield of sunola, canola and mustard was conducted at three locations: Swift Current and Scott in the semi-arid Brown and Dark Brown soil zones, respectively, and Melfort in the subhumid Black soil zone. Additionally, a tillage system experiment was conducted at Swift Current that compared grain yield and water-use-efficiency (WUE) of sunola and mustard grown in four tillage treatments: tilled, and untilled fallow, and tilled, and untilled wheat stubble. In the more typical 1994 season, the average thermal time to reach maturity for sunola was 1200 growing degree days (GDD), consistent for all locations, and was greater than that required for B. napus by 70 to 320 GDD (1–4 wk), depending on location. When compared with the seed yield of the Brassica spp. oilseeds, sunola averaged 59% at Swift Current, 54% at Scott, and 94% at Melfort. The WUE for sunola was 3.0 and 2.9 kg ha−1 mm−1 when grown on fallow and wheat stubble, respectively, compared with 5.6 and 4.8 kg ha–1 mm–1 for mustard. Due to its low seed yield potential and low WUE, sunola is not well adapted for production in the semi-arid Brown and Dark Brown soil zones. Key words: Sunola, canola, mustard, adaptation, seeding date, water-use-efficiency


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2757
Author(s):  
Abdul Ghaffar Khan ◽  
Muhammad Imran ◽  
Anwar-ul-Hassan Khan ◽  
Ali Fares ◽  
Jiří Šimůnek ◽  
...  

Pakistan is facing severe water shortages, so using the available water efficiently is essential for maximizing crop production. This can be achieved through efficient irrigation practices. Field studies were carried out to determine the dynamics of soil water and the efficiency of water utilization for maize grown under five irrigation techniques (flood-irrigated flatbed, furrow-irrigated ridge, furrow-irrigated raised bed, furrow-irrigated raised bed with plastic mulch, and sprinkler-irrigated flatbed). Spring and summer maize was grown for two years. The Irrigation Management System (IManSys) was used to estimate the irrigation requirements, evapotranspiration, and other water balance components for this study’s different experimental treatments based on site-specific crop, soil, and weather parameters. The results showed that the flood irrigation flatbed (FIF) treatment produced the highest evapotranspiration, leaf area index (LAI), and biomass yield compared to other treatments. However, this treatment did not produce the highest grain yield and had the lowest water use efficiency (WUE) and irrigation water use efficiency (WUEi) compared to the furrow-irrigated raised-bed treatment. The furrow-irrigated raised bed with plastic mulch (FIRBM) treatment improved grain yield, WUE, WUEi, and harvest index compared to the flood irrigation flatbed (FIF) treatment. The results showed a strong correlation between measured and estimated net irrigation requirements and evapotranspiration, with high r2 values (0.93, 0.99, 0.98, and 0.98) for the spring- and summer-sown maize. It was concluded that the FIRBM treatments improved the grain yield, WUE, and WUEi, which ultimately enhanced sustainable crop production. The growing of summer-sown maize in Pakistan has the potential for sustainable maize production under the semiarid and arid climate.


2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming HUANG ◽  
Zhao-Hui WANG ◽  
Lai-Chao LUO ◽  
Sen WANG ◽  
Ming BAO ◽  
...  

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
Guoqiang Zhang ◽  
Bo Ming ◽  
Dongping Shen ◽  
Ruizhi Xie ◽  
Peng Hou ◽  
...  

Achieving optimal balance between maize yield and water use efficiency is an important challenge for irrigation maize production in arid areas. In this study, we conducted an experiment in Xinjiang China in 2016 and 2017 to quantify the response of maize yield and water use to plant density and irrigation schedules. The treatments included four irrigation levels: 360 (W1), 480 (W2), 600 (W3), and 720 mm (W4), and five plant densities: 7.5 (D1), 9.0 (D2), 10.5 (D3), 12.0 (D4), and 13.5 plants m−2 (D5). The results showed that increasing the plant density and the irrigation level could both significantly increase the leaf area index (LAI). However, LAI expansion significantly increased evapotranspiration (ETa) under irrigation. The combination of irrigation level 600 mm (W3) and plant density 12.0 plants m−2 (D4) produced the highest maize yield (21.0–21.2 t ha−1), ETa (784.1–797.8 mm), and water use efficiency (WUE) (2.64–2.70 kg m−3), with an LAI of 8.5–8.7 at the silking stage. The relationship between LAI and grain yield and evapotranspiration were quantified, and, based on this, the relationship between water use and maize productivity was analyzed. Moreover, the optimal LAI was established to determine the reasonable irrigation level and coordinate the relationship between the increase in grain yield and the decrease in water use efficiency.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Gomaa ◽  
Essam E. Kandil ◽  
Atef A. M. Zen El-Dein ◽  
Mamdouh E. M. Abou-Donia ◽  
Hayssam M. Ali ◽  
...  

AbstractIn Egypt, water shortage has become a key limiting factor for agriculture. Water-deficit stress causes different morphological, physiological, and biochemical impacts on plants. Two field experiments were carried out at Etay El-Baroud Station, El-Beheira Governorate, Agriculture Research Center (ARC), Egypt, to evaluate the effect of potassium silicate (K-silicate) of maize productivity and water use efficiency (WUE). A split-plot system in the four replications was used under three irrigation intervals during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Whereas 10, 15, and 20 days irrigation intervals were allocated in main plots, while the three foliar application treatments of K-silicate (one spray at 40 days after sowing; two sprays at 40 and 60 days; and three sprays at 40, 60, and 80 days, and a control (water spray) were distributed in the subplots. All the treatments were distributed in 4 replicates. The results indicated that irrigation every 15 days gave the highest yield in both components and quality. The highly significant of (WUE) under irrigation every 20 days. Foliar spraying of K-silicate three times resulted in the highest yield. Even under water-deficit stress, irrigation every fifteen days combined with foliar application of K-silicate three times achieved the highest values of grain yield and its components. These results show that K-silicate treatment can increase WUE and produce high grain yield requiring less irrigation.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 466
Author(s):  
Qibo Tao ◽  
Mengjie Bai ◽  
Cunzhi Jia ◽  
Yunhua Han ◽  
Yanrong Wang

Irrigation and nitrogen (N) are two crucial factors affecting perennial grass seed production. To investigate the effects of irrigation and N rate on seed yield (SY), yield components, and water use efficiency (WUE) of Cleistogenes songorica (Roshevitz) Ohwi, an ecologically significant perennial grass, a four-year (2016–2019) field trial was conducted in an arid region of northwestern China. Two irrigation regimes (I1 treatment: irrigation at tillering stage; I2 treatment: irrigation at tillering, spikelet initiation, and early flowering stages) and four N rates (0, 60, 120, 180 kg ha−1) were arranged. Increasing amounts of both irrigation and N improved SY, evapotranspiration, WUE, and related yield components like fertile tillers m−2 (FTSM) and seeds spikelet−1. Meanwhile, no significant difference was observed between 120 and 180 kg N ha−1 treatments for most variables. The highest SY and WUE was obtained with treatment combination of I2 plus 120 kg N ha−1 with four-year average values of 507.3 kg ha−1 and 1.8 kg ha−1 mm−1, respectively. Path coefficient and contribution analysis indicated that FTSM was the most important yield component for SY, with direct path coefficient and contribution coefficient of 0.626 and 0.592. Overall, we recommend I2 treatment (three irrigations) together with 120 kg N ha−1 to both increase SY and WUE, especially in arid regions. Future agronomic managements and breeding programs for seed should mainly focus on FTSM. This study will enable grass seed producers, plant breeders, and government program directors to more effectively target higher SY of C. songorica.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document