Every-Other-Furrow Irrigation with Different Irrigation Intervals for Grain Sorghum

Abstract

The water stress effects caused by every-other-furrow irrigation on yield may be alleviated by more frequent irrigation intervals. This research was conducted to determine yield and water use efficiency of grain sorghum under fixed and variable every-other-furrow and every furrow irrigations at different irrigation intervals and shallow and deep water table conditions. Water needs of grain sorghum grown on a fine-texture soil may not be met by using Every-Other Furrow Irrigation (EOFI) especially under 15 and 20 day irrigation intervals. The water stress decreased the grain yield mainly through decreasing the number of grains per cluster and in a lesser degree by decrease in 1000-seed weight. The clay soil with a layer of high clay content at depth of 70-100 cm and shallow water table may restrict the root growth and consequently the longer irrigation intervals with greater soil water stress can cause lower grain yield in these conditions. However, more frequent EOFI using 10 day intervals has produced very similar results with only a marginal reduction in crop yield. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference in grain yield between fixed and variable every-other -furrow irrigations. In general, at given applied water, the relative grain yield with respect to the maximum grain yield of sorghum at EOFI was higher than those at EFI. At relative applied water of 85% (mild deficit irrigation), EOFI may be recommended to obtain the same grain yield as that of EFI with full irrigation. Furthermore, it may result in 23% more grain yield than that obtained by EFI with the same amount of applied water as deficit irrigation.