Effect of irrigation on growth, yield and evapotranspiration of mustard ( Brassica juncea) in partially reclaimed sodic soils

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of irrigation scheduling of mustard ( Brassica juncea L.) at Karnal, India, during 1987–1988 and 1988–1989 in partially reclaimed sodic soil with pH 8.8 and exchangeable sodium percent (ESP) 23. One irrigation at rosette stage (28–30 days after sowing) gave significantly greater relative growth rate (RGR), branches and pods/plant, seed and straw yields as compared to one irrigation at pod formation stage and unirrigated treatments. Most of the evapotranspiration (ET) of crop occurred from the 0–15 cm soil layer. The total amount of ET of crop from all the layers was always greatest under higher irrigation frequency. Maximum water use efficiency (WUE) was recorded when one irrigation was given at rosette as compared with other treatments. The ET of crop increased as the crop season advanced and reached its peak from 30–60 days after sowing (DAS).