• Authors:
    • Verma, R. P. S.
    • Sharma, R. K.
  • Source: Cereal Research Communications
  • Volume: 38
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: A study was undertaken at the Directorate of Wheat Research experimental station, Karnal, India, to evaluate the effect of nitrogen (30, 60 and 90 kg/ha) and irrigation (one, two and three) on yield and grain quality traits of two and six row type malt barley genotypes. The mean grain yield significantly increased from 41.9 to 45.8 q/ha with increase in nitrogen dose from 30 to 90 kg/ha and 41.8 to 45.9 q/ha with increase in irrigations from one to three. The two and six row barleys had almost similar yield potential at higher nitrogen application and irrigation frequency but the six-row type had advantage at lower nitrogen and irrigation. Varietal effects were significant for all the traits, while N significantly affected only grain yield, spikes per unit area, 1000-grain weight and husk content. Irrigation effects were significant for bulk density, grain yield, spikes per unit area, and grains per spike. Traits like grain bulk density, proportion of bold and thin grains and husk content are mainly affected by variety and less affected by management practices.
  • Authors:
    • Döll, P.
    • Siebert, S.
  • Source: Journal of Hydrology
  • Volume: 384
  • Issue: 3-4
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Crop production requires large amounts of green and blue water. We developed the new global crop water model GCWM to compute consumptive water use (evapotranspiration) and virtual water content (evapotranspiration per harvested biomass) of crops at a spatial resolution of 5′ by 5′, distinguishing 26 crop classes, and blue versus green water. GCWM is based on the global land use data set MIRCA2000 that provides monthly growing areas for 26 crop classes under rainfed and irrigated conditions for the period 1998-2002 and represents multi-cropping. By computing daily soil water balances, GCWM determines evapotranspiration of blue and green water for each crop and grid cell. Cell-specific crop production under both rainfed and irrigated conditions is computed by downscaling average crop yields reported for 402 national and sub-national statistical units, relating rainfed and irrigated crop yields reported in census statistics to simulated ratios of actual to potential crop evapotranspiration for rainfed crops. By restricting water use of irrigated crops to green water only, the potential production loss without any irrigation was computed. For the period 1998-2002, the global value of total crop water use was 6685 km 3 yr -1, of which blue water use was 1180 km 3 yr -1, green water use of irrigated crops was 919 km 3 yr -1 and green water use of rainfed crops was 4586 km 3 yr -1. Total crop water use was largest for rice (941 km 3 yr -1), wheat (858 km 3 yr -1) and maize (722 km 3 yr -1). The largest amounts of blue water were used for rice (307 km 3 yr -1) and wheat (208 km 3 yr -1). Blue water use as percentage of total crop water use was highest for date palms (85%), cotton (39%), citrus fruits (33%), rice (33%) and sugar beets (32%), while for cassava, oil palm and cocoa, almost no blue water was used. Average crop yield of irrigated cereals was 442 Mg km -2 while average yield of rainfed cereals was only 266 Mg km -2. Average virtual water content of cereal crops was 1109 m 3 Mg -1 of green water and 291 m 3 Mg -1 of blue water, while average crop water productivity of cereal crops was 714 g m -3. If currently irrigated crops were not irrigated, global production of dates, rice, cotton, citrus and sugar cane would decrease by 60%, 39%, 38%, 32% and 31%, respectively. Forty-three per cent of cereal production was on irrigated land, and without irrigation, cereal production on irrigated land would decrease by 47%, corresponding to a 20% loss of total cereal production. The largest cereal production losses would occur in Northern Africa (66%) and Southern Asia (45%) while losses would be very low for Northern Europe (0.001%), Western Europe (1.2%), Eastern Europe (1.5%) and Middle Africa (1.6%). Uncertainties and limitations are discussed in the manuscript, and a comparison of GCWM results to statistics or results of other studies shows good agreement at the regional scale, but larger differences for specific countries.
  • Authors:
    • Evans, A.
    • Blummel, M.
    • Noble, A. D.
    • Ahmad, W.
    • Simmons, R. W.
    • Weckenbrock, P.
  • Source: Irrigation and Drainage Systems
  • Volume: 24
  • Issue: 1-2
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: In 2006 a comprehensive sampling program was undertaken in two pre-selected peri-urban villages in Faisalabad, Pakistan to evaluate the soil and agronomic impacts of long-term (25-30 years) untreated wastewater re-use on wheat grain and straw yields and attributes of wheat straw fodder quality. Soil SAR, ESP, RSC and ECe were 63%, 37%, 31%, and 50% higher under wastewater (WW) as compared with canal water (CW) irrigated plots. Further, 2.7 and 6.65 fold increases in soil NO 3-+NO 2--N and Olsen-P were observed in WW as compared with CW irrigated plots. However, no significant differences in grain yield, wheat straw biomass, or fodder quality attributes were observed between WW and CW irrigated plots. In addition, for both CW and WW irrigated plots wheat straw, Cd and Pb concentrations were orders of magnitude below the EC Maximum permissible levels for Pb and Cd in feed materials and thus pose no threat to the fodder-livestock food chain. Further, elevated soil N associated with WW irrigated plots has a significant ( p
  • Authors:
    • Buttar, G. S.
    • Thind, H. S.
    • Aujla, M. S.
  • Source: Irrigation Science
  • Volume: 28
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: A 4-year field experiment was conducted in a semi-arid area to evaluate the response of each furrow and alternate furrow irrigation in wheat-cotton system using irrigation waters of different qualities in a calcareous soil. Irrigation was applied to each and alternate furrow of bed-planted wheat followed by ridge-planted cotton for comparison with standard check-basin method of irrigation to both the crops. These methods of irrigation were evaluated under three water qualities namely good quality canal water (CW), poor quality tube well water (TW) and pre-sowing irrigation to each crop with CW and all subsequent irrigations with TW (CWpsi+TW). The pooled results over 4 years revealed that wheat grain yield was not affected significantly with quality of irrigation water, but significant yield reduction was observed in alternate bed irrigation under canal water and tube well water irrigations. In cotton, poor quality tube well water significantly reduced the seed cotton yield in all the three methods of planting. The pre-sowing irrigation with canal water and all subsequent irrigations with tube well water improved the seed cotton yield when compared with tube well water alone. However, this yield increase was significant only in alternate furrow irrigation, and the yield obtained was on a par with yield under alternate furrow in CW. When compared to check-basin irrigation, each furrow and alternate furrow irrigation resulted in a saving of 30 and 49% of irrigation water in bed-planted wheat, whereas the corresponding savings in ridge-planted cotton were 20 and 42%, respectively. Reduced use of irrigation water under alternate furrow, without any significant reduction in yield, resulted in 28.1, 23.9 and 43.2% higher water use efficiency in wheat under CW, TW and CWpsi+TW, respectively. The corresponding increase under cotton was 8.2, 2.1 and 19.5%. The implementation of alternate furrow irrigation improved the water use efficiency without any loss in yield, thus reduced use of irrigation water especially under poor quality irrigation water with pre-sowing irrigation with canal water reduced the deteriorating effects on yield and soil under these calcareous soils.
  • Authors:
    • Reddy, P. R. R.
    • Veeranna, G.
    • Rao, L. J.
  • Source: Journal of Research ANGRAU
  • Volume: 38
  • Issue: 3/4
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Maize ( Zea mays) is one of the important cereal crops cultivated in India. Its area is expanding fast in Andhra Pradesh. Plant density in corn, varies with soil, rainfall, hybrid, planting pattern and field preparation (Olson and Sander, 1988). Of late, Zero tillage maize, after kharif rice is gaining popularity among the farming community in Andhra Pradesh. In zero tillage, after harvesting kharif rice, maize seeds will be dibbled under optimum moisture condition without any field preparation. Pre emergence spraying of atrazine in combination with paraquat or glyphosate is practiced to control weeds. Fertilizer application starts from 15 days after sowing in various quantities. In general, intercultivation is not practiced. The crop receives 4-6 irrigations depending on soil type.
  • Authors:
    • Song, W. X.
    • Zhao, W. Z.
    • Shi, S. L.
    • Zhang, E. H.
    • Zhao, L.
    • Li, F. R.
    • Wang, Q.
    • Vance, M. M.
  • Source: Plant and Soil
  • Volume: 337
  • Issue: 1/2
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Monitoring of drinking water has shown an increase in nitrate-nitrogen (NO 3--N) concentration in groundwater in some areas of the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China. A combination of careful irrigation and nitrogen (N) management is needed to improve N uptake efficiency and to minimize fertilizer N loss. A 2-year experiment investigated the effects of different irrigation and N application rates on soil NO 3--N distribution and fertilizer N loss, wheat grain yield and N uptake on recently reclaimed sandy farmland. The experiment followed a completely randomized split-plot design, taking flood irrigation (0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 of the estimated evapotranspiration) as main plot treatment and N-supply as split-plot treatment (with five levels of 0, 79, 140, 221, 300 kgN ha -1). Fertilizer N loss was calculated according to N balance equation. Our results showed that, under deficit irrigation conditions, N fertilizer application at a rate of 300 kgha -1 promoted NO 3--N concentration in 0-200 cm depth soil profiles, and treatments with 221 kgN ha -1 also increased soil NO 3--N concentrations only in the surface layers. Fertilizer N rates of 70 and 140 kgha -1 did not increase NO 3--N concentration in the 0-200 cm soil profile remaining after the spring wheat growing season. The amount of residual NO 3--N in soil profiles decreased with the amount of irrigation. Compared with N 0, the increases of fertilizer N loss, in N 79, N 140, N 221 and N 300 respectively, were 59.9, 104.6, 143.5 and 210.6 kgha -1 over 2 years. Under these experimental conditions, a N rate of 221 kgha -1 obtained the highest values of grain yield (2775 kgha -1), above-ground dry matter (5310 kgha -1) and plant N uptake (103.8 kgha -1) over 2 years. The results clearly showed that the relative high grain yield and irrigation water productivity, and relative low N loss were achieved with application of 221 kgN ha -1 and low irrigation, the recommendation should be for those farmers who use the upper range of the recommended 150-400 kgN ha -1, that they can save about 45% of their N and 40% of their irrigation water application.
  • Authors:
    • Schumann, A. H.
    • Fekete, B. M.
    • Douglas, E. M.
    • Frolking, S.
    • Wisser, D.
    • Vorosmarty, C. J.
  • Source: Journal of Hydrology
  • Volume: 384
  • Issue: 3/4
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: Rainwater harvesting, broadly defined as the collection and storage of surface runoff, has a long history in supplying water for agricultural purposes. Despite its significance, rainwater harvesting in small reservoirs has previously been overlooked in large-scale assessments of agricultural water supply and demand. We used a macroscale hydrological model, observed climate data and other physical datasets to explore the potential role of small, localized rainwater harvesting systems in supplying water for irrigated areas. We first estimated the potential contribution of local water harvesting to supply currently irrigated areas. We then explored the potential of supplemental irrigation applied to all cropland areas to increase crop evapotranspiration (or green water flow), using locally stored surface runoff in small reservoirs for different scenarios of installed reservoir capacity. The estimated increase in green water flow varied between 623 and 1122 km 3 a -1. We assessed the implications of this increase in green water flows for cereal production by assuming a constant crop water productivity in areas where current levels of crop yield are below global averages. Globally, the supplemental irrigation of existing cropland areas could increase cereal production by ~35% for a medium variant of reservoir capacity, with large potential increases in Africa and Asia. As small reservoirs can significantly impact the hydrological regime of river basins, we also assessed the impacts of small reservoirs on downstream river flow and quantified evaporation losses from small reservoirs.
  • Authors:
    • Thenua, O. V. S.
    • Sharma, U. C.
    • Abraham, T.
    • Shivakumar, B. G.
  • Source: The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences
  • Volume: 80
  • Issue: 5
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: A field experiment was conducted during winter ( rabi) season of 2005-06 and 2006-07 in the Agronomy Research Farm of Amar Singh College, Lakhaoti, Uttar Pradesh to study the effect of levels of irrigation and fertility on chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) and mustard ( Brassica juncea L. czernj & coss.) in sole and intercropping systems. The experiment was conducted in split-plot design with 3 replications. The combination of treatments consisted of 3 cropping systems, namely sole mustard (C 1), sole chickpea (C 2) and chickpea+mustard intercropping (C 3) (4:1 raw ratio) and 4 irrigation levels [no irrigation (I 0), irrigation at pre-flowering (I 1), at pod formation (I 2) at both pre-flowering and pod formation (I 3)] for chickpea allotted to main plots and 3 fertility levels [F 1 (20:40:10 kg N, P 2O 5 and S/ha) F 2 (40:60:20 kg N, P 2O 5 and S/ha) and F 3 recommended dose of fertilisers (RDF)] for both the crops on row length basis to sub-plots. The sole Indian mustard recorded higher seed yield compared to intercropping. The yield reduction in mustard was to the tune of 58.9% and 60.0% in the first and second year, respectively, due to intercropping chickpea. Irrigation, on an average increased the mustard yield by 6.47% (I 1), 12.18% (I 2) and 13.18% (I 3) compared to no irrigation (I 0). Similarly fertilizer treatments F 2 and F 3 on an average increased mustard yield by 10.17% and 18.46%, respectively, over the F 1. The intercropping of chickpea and mustard in 4:1 raw ratio was significantly superior to sole crops of either chickpea or mustard in terms of yield and economics. Between the sole crops, chickpea was better as compared to mustard. Application of recommended dose of fertilizers (20:60:20 kg, N, P 2O 5 and S/ha) on area basis was superior.
  • Authors:
    • Ahlawat, I. P. S.
    • Gangaiah, B.
  • Source: Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences
  • Volume: 80
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: The 2-year field investigation carried out in a sandy loam soil at New Delhi indicates that furrow irrigated raised bed (FIRB) planting of chickpea+linseed intercropping in 2:1 row ratio receiving irrigation at 0.4 IW/CPE ratio may be recommended for higher productivity and profitability.
  • Authors:
    • Peluzio, J. M.
    • Almeida, R. D. de
    • Afferri, F. S.
  • Source: Bioscience Journal
  • Volume: 26
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2010
  • Summary: A trial was carried out to estimate the phenotypic, genotypic and environmental correlations between eight agronomic traits, in twelve cultivars of soybean. The essays were carried out at Formoso do Araguaia, TO, in the inter-cropping of 2007. The soybean cultivars studied were DM Vitoria, MG/BR 46 (Conquista), Suprema, BRS Pintado, DM 247, BRS MG 68, BRS MG Lideranca, BRS MG Seguranca, DM 339, BRS MG Garantia, A 7002 e DM 309. The genotypic correlations presented equal signs and, in most cases were higher than their correspondent phenotypic correlations, indicating that the phenotypic values were reduced by the environment. The correlations genotypic presented equal sign and, in most of the cases, superior values to their correspondents correlations phenotypic, indicating that the expression phenotypic is reduced before the influences of the atmosphere. Selection of late flowering plants and with height insertion of the first bean would make it possible to indirectly improve grains yield due to the positive and significant correlation between these traits.