Yield response of a semi dwarf wheat triticum aestivum cultivar sonalika to irrigation on a calcareous brown floodplain soil of bangladesh
Rahman, S.M.; Talukdar, S.U.; Kaul, A.K.; Biswas, M.R.
Agricultural Water Management 3(3): 217-226
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0378-3774 Accession: 006924969
Determination of an irrigation schedule for most efficient water management was attempted. The study, conducted on a calcareous brown flood plain soil, comprised a randomized block design experiment with 8 irrigation treatments applied at critical growth stages. The yield of wheat was highest and irrigation efficiency maximum when 2 irrigations, totalling 9.5 cm, were given at tillering and booting stages. The quantity of irrigation water applied was calculated on the basis of deficit from field capacity level of soil water content. The lowest grain yields were obtained in treatments receiving either no irrigation or only 1 irrigation at the grain-filling stage. The percent increase over control (no irrigation) in grain yield, due to various irrigation treatments, ranged 21-92%. The depletion of soil water increased as the amount of irrigation water increased. The present yield levels of wheat in Bangladesh can easily be increased by 50-100% by irrigating with only 1/3-1/2 of the water currently being used, provided it is scheduled and managed efficiently, keeping in view the need of the crops as well as the soils.