Effect of crop geometry, drip irrigation and bio-regulator on growth, yield and water use efficiency of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during Rabi season, 2011-12 at Niche Area Excellence Farm, Bikaner to study the effect of crop geometry, drip irrigation and bio-regulator on growth, water use efficiency and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design with three irrigation schedules viz., 60, 80 and 100 per cent ETc, two crop geometry levels viz., 22cm paired row spacing-4 rows (120 cm lateral spacing) and 22 cm normal spacing sowing (60 cm lateral spacing) and two levels of bioregulator viz., control (water spray) and thiourea (500 ppm) foliar spray twice at vegetative stage and flowering stage. The study indicated that there was increase in dry matter accumulation, plant height, grain yield and biological yield with increase in irrigation level from 60 per cent ETc to 100 per cent ETc. The study further indicated that dry matter accumulation and plant height was maximum in paired row as compared to normal planting whereas grain yield, biological yield and harvest index were maximum in normal planting as compared to paired row planting. The study indicated that dry matter accumulation significantly increase only 60 and 120 DAS and plant height at only 120 DAS with the thiourea (500 ppm) as compared to control. The study also indicated that the interaction effect of irrigation and geometry gave maximum grain yield, biological yield and WUE at 100 per cent ETc +60 cm drip line spacing, maximum harvest index at 60 per cent ETc + 60 cm drip line spacing whereas maximum WUE at 80 per cent ETc + 60 cm drip line spacing.

The Coupled Effects of Irrigation Scheduling and Nitrogen Fertilization Mode on Growth, Yield and Water Use Efficiency in Drip-Irrigated Winter Wheat

“…Irrigating the wheat crop as soon as the SWC reaches 35 mm has been proven as an optimal irrigation scheduling treatment to gain better grain yield, which is mainly due to greater yield components (especially number of grains per spike) and HI values under this specific treatment during the two growing seasons. This result corroborates well with the findings of Bhunia et al [39], which showed that yield attributes like spike length, grain weight and number of grains per spike increased at optimum soil moisture rather than higher irrigation. Bandyopadhyay et al [40] also stated that moderate deficit irrigation might increase the root growth and facilitate remobilization of reserve carbon to grains and accelerate grain filling, which could be responsible for improved grain yield under moderate deficit irrigation (SWC = 35 mm) as observed in our study.…”

Coupling Regulation of Root-Zone Soil Water and Fertilizer for Summer Maize with Drip Irrigation

“…Drip irrigation is regarded as one of the most efficient irrigation technologies in terms of water, energy, and fertilizer use [13,14]. Drip irrigation transports water and fertilizer to crops directly [15,16] and provides a suitable soil environment for crops. However, research on the application of drip irrigation in summer maize in North China is currently limited due to the traditional conception that summer maize does not require watering in North China [17,18].…”

Winter Wheat and Spring Barley Canopies under Strip-Till One-Pass Technology

“…The distance between adjacent rows in the strip of tilled soil is smaller, and between the rows in successive strips separated by the strip of untilled soil is greater [18,19]. However, compared to traditional row sowing, paired-row sowing changes plants and canopy parameters [20,21]. Changing the row spacing while maintaining the same sowing density requires a change in the distance between plants in a row.…”