M.S. Rahman
Scientific Officer
IWM Division, BARI, Gazipur-1701
A.R. Akanda
Principal Scientific Officer
IWM Division, BARI, Gazipur-1701
S. K. Biswas
Senior Scientific Officer
IWM Division, BARI, Gazipur-1701
P.K. Sarkar
Principal Scientific Officer
Division, BARI, Gazipur-1701
A. Khatun
Principal Scientific Officer
Division, BARI, Gazipur-1701
Scarcity of water is going to be the most severe constraint for the development of agriculture in Bangladesh. Under this condition, the necessity of using the available water economically and efficiently is unquestionable. The objectives of the study was to identify crop growth stages during which the crop can withstand water stress with limited effect on yield and to determine a suitable irrigation option against drought for sustainable production. The results showed that variation in timing and amount of irrigation had a reasonable effect on grain yield. The mid-season stage of mustard was the most sensitive to water stress. On the other hand, water stress during the early and late stage had a limited effect on yield. Although, the highest yield (2.67 t/ha) was obtained from the treatment fulfilling entire crop water requirement with a seasonal water use of 367 mm. The lowest yield (1.85 t/ha) was obtained from treatment T4 with water stress at mid stage (22 DAS and 75 DAS) requiring the seasonal water use of 310 mm. Deficit irrigation can be an effective practice for higher productivity and thus irrigated areas can be increased under water resources limiting situations.
Water scarcity, deficit irrigation, mustard, climate change
Central farm, IWM Division, BARI, Joydebpur, Gazipur
Crop-Soil-Water Management
The study was undertaken to identify the stages of crops’ growth sensitive to water stress of different magnitudes and a suitable irrigation options against drought for sustainable production.
The experiment was conducted at the research field of Irrigation and Water Management Division, BARI, Gazipur during the rabi season of 2010-2011 on mustard crop (Variety: BARI Sharisa-11) with a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and four replications. The treatments were selected based on applying irrigation at different growth stages as follows;
T1 = Full irrigations (5 DAS, 22 DAS, 50DAS and 75DAS)
T2 = Water stress at sowing stage (22 DAS, 50DAS and 75DAS)
T3 = Water stress at early stage (45 DAS and 75DAS)
T4 = Water stress at mid stage (22 DAS and 75DAS)
T5 = Water stress at late stage (22 DAS and 50 DAS)
The soil was a silty clay loam having a bulk density of 1.50 gm/cc and volumetric water content at permanent wilting point (PWP) and field capacity (FC) equal to 23% and 43.5%, respectively. Seeds were sown on 12 November 2011 at the rate of 10 kg/ha. The unit plot size and line to line spacing were 5×4 m and 30 cm, respectively. Standard fertilizer doses were applied in the field. A common irrigation (5 mm) was applied in the field (except T2 treatment) for maintaining water stress at sowing stage and for ensuring good germination. Intercultural operations such as weeding, thinning and pesticide application were done as when necessary. Mustard was harvested on 28 February 2012 and data on yield and yield parameters were recorded.
BARI Annual Report 2011-2012
Meeting full water requirement during the early growth stage of mustard is not very important if water shortage is not suffered by the crop during the rest period of the season, especially during the mid season stage. This indicates that the most critical period for irrigation is the mid season stage for mustard. In other words, the crop is very susceptible to water stress at that stage. When water stress is imposed early in the growing season, high yield of mustard could easily be sustained provided adequate watering conditions take place during the rest of the growing season.
Report/Proceedings