Effect of Varying Drip Irrigation Levels and Methods of NPK Fertilizer Application on Soil Water Dynamics, Water Use Efficiency and Productivity of Various Crops: A Review

Investigating the effects of optimized fertilizer and irrigation levels on water use efficiency and productivity of wheat crop at small farms is of great importance for precise and sustainable agriculture in Pakistan's irrigated areas. However, traditional farmer practices for wheat production are inefficient and unsustainable. This study aimed to investigate the effects of deficit irrigation and nitrophos fertilizer levels on bread wheat grain yield, yield parameters, nutrient use and water use efficiencies in bed planting wheat compared to traditional farmers' practices in the flat sowing method. The two-year field experiment followed a randomized complete block design of three replications, taking three irrigation treatments according to the requirement of crop estimated by CROPWAT model (100% of ETC), deficit irrigation (80% of ETC), and deficit irrigation 60% of ETC and three nitrophos fertilizer treatments (farmer practice 120 kg N ha-1, optimized 96 kg N ha-1, and 84 kg N ha-1) at different growth stages. Crop ETC was calculated using the FAO CROPWAT 8.0 model from the last ten years (2003-2013) average climate data of the experimental station. The traditional farmer practice treatment was included as a control treatment with a flat sowing method compared with other sown-by-bed planter treatments. All treatments were provided with an equivalent amount of fertilizer at the basal dose. Before the first and second irrigation, top-dressing fertilizer was used in traditional farmers' treatment at the third leaf and tillering stages. It was applied in optimized treatments before the first, second, and third irrigation at the third leaf, tillering and shooting stages, respectively, under the bed planting method. The deficit level of irrigation (80% of ETc) and optimized fertilizer (96 kg N ha-1) showed the optimum grain yield, nutrient use, and water use efficiencies, with 20% reduced irrigation water and fertilizer levels than traditional farming practice. The results suggest that bread wheat should be irrigated with 80% of ETC and applied 96 kg N ha-1 nitrophos fertilizer at the third leaf, tillering, and shooting stages to achieve higher grain yield and water and nutrient use efficiencies under bed planting.

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Response of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) to bio-regulators TGA and N-acetyl cystein under drip irrigation levels

Journal of Spices and Aromatic Crops ◽

10.25081/josac.2017.v26.i1.809 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 55

Author(s):

S R Bhunia, I M Verma, M Arif

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Plant Height ◽

Water Use ◽

Drip Irrigation ◽

Test Weight ◽

Yield Attributes ◽

Maximum Water ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Pod Length ◽

Irrigation Levels

Field experiments were conducted during winter seasons of 2010–11 and 2011–12 at Bikaner (Rajasthan) to study the effect of bioregulators viz., TGA and N-acetyl cystein under different drip irrigation levels on yield, yield attributes, water use and water use efficiency of fenugreek. The highest plant height (69 cm) and yield attributes viz., branches plant-1 (7.6), pods plant-1 (46.3), pod length (13.5 cm), seed pod-1 (16) and test weight (12.7 g) were recorded with 100% ETc + TGA (200 ppm). Further, 80% ETc + TGA (200 ppm), and 100% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (both 10 and 20 ppm) and 100% ETc + TGA (both 100 and 200 ppm) produced comparable plant height. However, 80% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (both 10 and 20 ppm), 80% ETc + TGA (both 100 and 200 ppm), 100% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (both 10 and 20 ppm), 100% ETc + TGA (100 ppm) and 100% ETc + TGA (200 ppm) recorded at par branches plant-1, pods plant-1, pod length and test weight of fenugreek. Highest seed and biological yield of fenugreek were recorded with 100% ETc + Nacetyl cystein (20 ppm), which was at par with 100% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (10 ppm) and 100% ETc + TGA (both 100 and 200 ppm). Maximum water use recorded at 100% ETc with or without bioregulators, whereas maximum water use efficiency was recorded with 60% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (20 ppm) followed by 60% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (10 ppm).

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Adapting Root Distribution and Improving Water Use Efficiency via Drip Irrigation in a Jujube (Zizyphus jujube Mill.) Orchard after Long-Term Flood Irrigation

Agriculture ◽

10.3390/agriculture11121184 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 1184

Author(s):

Zhaoyang Li ◽

Rui Zong ◽

Tianyu Wang ◽

Zhenhua Wang ◽

Jinzhu Zhang

Keyword(s):

Water Use Efficiency ◽

Soil Water ◽

Water Use ◽

Drip Irrigation ◽

Root Distribution ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Flood Irrigation ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

Irrigation Levels

Jujube tree yields in dryland saline soils are restricted by water shortages and soil salinity. Converting traditional flood irrigation to drip irrigation would solve water deficit and salt stress. The root distribution reacts primarily to the availability of water and nutrients. However, there is little information about the response of jujube roots to the change from flood irrigation to drip irrigation. In this context, a two–year experiment was carried out to reveal the effects of the change from long–term flood irrigation to drip irrigation on soil water, root distribution, fruit yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) of jujube trees. In this study, drip irrigation amounts were designed with three levels, i.e., 880 mm (W1), 660 mm (W2), 440 mm (W3), and the flood irrigation of 1100 mm was designed as the control (CK). The results showed that replacing flood irrigation with drip irrigation significantly altered soil water distribution and increased soil moisture in the topsoil (0–40 cm). In the drip irrigation treatments with high levels, soil water storage in the 0–60 cm soil layer at the flowering and fruit setting, and fruit swelling stages of jujube trees increased significantly compared with the flood irrigation. After two consecutive years of drip irrigation, the treatments with higher irrigation levels increased root length density (RLD) in 0–60 cm soil depth but decreased that in the 60–100 cm depth. In the horizontal direction, higher irrigation levels increased RLD in the distance of 0–50 cm, while reducing RLD in the distance of 50–100 cm. However, the opposite conclusion was obtained in W3 treatment. Additionally, in the second year of drip irrigation, W2 treatment (660 mm) significantly improved yield and WUE, with an increasing of 7.6% for yield and 60.3% for WUE compared to the flood irrigation. In summary, converting flood irrigation to drip irrigation is useful in regulating root distribution and improving WUE, which would be a promising method in jujube cultivation in arid regions.

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