Deficit irrigation strategy to sustain available water resources using guar

Abstract

The gradual depletion of irrigation water is a major threat to the agricultural economy in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Drought–tolerant crops and improved irrigation management practices may help the sustainability of agriculture in the region. A three–year field experiment (2018–2020) was conducted to assess the effects of pre–and in–season irrigations on the physiology, biomass production, yield, and yield components of two diverse guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) cultivars. A split-split plot design was used, where the main plot was pre–irrigation, subplots consisted of in–season irrigation treatments, and sub-sub plots were cultivars. Each treatment was replicated four times each year. Pre–irrigation improved the averaged final seed yield by 32% compared to plots with no pre–irrigation. Seed yield was significantly affected by in–season growth stage based irrigation treatments. Averaged over the years, full irrigation achieved the highest seed yield, although not significantly different from no irrigation during the vegetative growth stage in any study year. Cultivar Kinman performed better than Monument in biomass production and seed yield. Overall, pre–irrigation improves guar growth and development, leading to greater seed yield and biomass production. The most sustainable strategy to utilize the available water resources will be to grow guar with restricted irrigation during the vegetative growth stage, save 22% of water, and maintain a similar seed yield to plots that received irrigation throughout the crop season.