Precision Irrigation Strategies for Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Farming: Influence of Drip Lateral Geometry, Irrigation Regimes and Frequency on Crop Performance

Abstract

A substantial rise in water consumption as a result of rapid population development and rising living standards has resulted in acute water shortages. Effective water management has become crucial to address this issue. One approach is to adopt irrigation technologies and implement efficient irrigation scheduling to optimize limited water resources. The agricultural industry must find ways to grow more food while using less water, which can be done through improving crop water productivity. The timing and amount of water to be applied to crops is determined by irrigation scheduling, which helps to avoid over or under watering. Drip irrigation is increasingly utilized in this region due to its potential for enhancing agriculture production with efficient use of water. Drip irrigation must be scheduled correctly for effective water management in crop production. Realizing the necessity, at Junagadh Agricultural University, an experiment was carried out during year 2018-19, to study effect of drip lateral geometry (3 rows per lateral, 4 rows per lateral and 6 rows per lateral), irrigation regimes (1.0 ET_c and 0.8 ET_c) and irrigation frequency (2 days, 3 days and 5 days) on wheat. Each treatment was replicated twice. Results revealed that higher plant height (115.01 cm), number of productive tiller (480.50), number of grains spike^-1 (47), test weight (59.83 g) and highest grain yield (4,825 kg ha^-1) and straw yield (7,655 kg ha^-1) was observed under drip lateral geometry of 3 rows per lateral, scheduled at 0.8 ET_c and 2 days irrigation frequency.