Improving irrigation management in dry season rice cultivation for optimum crop and water productivity in non-traditional rice ecologies

✍ Scribed by A. Ghosh; O. N. Singh; K. S. Rao

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 117 KB
• Volume: 60
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1531-0353
• DOI: 10.1002/ird.572

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A field experiment carried out during 2003 and 2004 in India addressed critical soil moisture tension based alternate wetting and drying (AWD) system of irrigation management in dry season rice cultivation in non‐traditional areas under waterlogged and flood‐prone deepwater conditions. Results showed that a medium duration rice variety, “Geetanjali”, grown with irrigation up to 0.1 bar soil moisture tension produced a comparable grain yield of 4.30–4.50 t ha^−1^ with that under conventional irrigation management (4.50–4.75 t ha^−1^). However, a significant yield decline of 17.8–18.1% occurred while applying irrigation at 0.2 bar moisture tension. Mean irrigation water requirement was a maximum of 2295 mm in the conventional system; 28.0, 41.7 and 55.8% higher than those at 0.0, 0.1 and 0.2 bar tension, respectively. Average water use efficiency of 3.57 kg grain ha‐mm^−1^ was also significantly higher at 0.2 bar tension. Irrigation at 0.1 bar moisture tension achieved optimum crop productivity of 4.3–4.4 t ha^−1^ and water productivity of 0.32–0.34 g grain kg^−1^ water applied.

Thus, it is expected that the results of this study would become very useful while planning future research programmes on water‐saving irrigation management, viz. the AWD system in rice cultivation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.