Increasing water use efficiency through rainwater management and crop establishment methods in rice grown under limited irrigation resource

Abstract

The field experiment entitled Increasing water use efficiency through rainwater management and crop establishment methods in rice grown under limited irrigation resource was conducted during kharif seasons of 2003 and 2004 at the experimental farm of Department of Soil Science, CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur. The experiment consisted of twelve possible combinations of rainwater management and crop establishment methods laid out in split plot design with three replications. Four rainwater management treatments viz. R1, raising rice plot bund height to 25-30 cm with no additional runoff from the maize plot; R2, raising rice plot bund height to 25-30 cm + runoff inflow from adjoining upper maize plot of double the size of rice plot; R3, raising rice plot bund height to 10 cm with no additional runoff from the maize plot and R4, Continuous submergence (1-5 cm) through irrigation/rainfall with 10 cm bund height and no additional runoff inflow were assigned to the main plots. Three crop establishment methods viz. M1, direct seeding +Halod; M2, direct seeding of sprouted seeds in puddled soil and M3, transplanting were assigned to the sub-plots. The soil of the experimental site was acidic in reaction (pH-5.6) and silty clay loam in texture having 1.08 g/cm3 bulk density, and 2.13 cm/hr infiltration rate. The soil was categorized as high in organic carbon, available phosphorus and potassium and medium in available nitrogen. newlineAmong different rainwater management treatments, R4 had the highest total water expense and water expense efficiency. This treatment also resulted in significant improvement in soil moisture storage. Continuous submergence treatment (R4) also recorded a significant increase in various growth and yield attributes, grain yield, gross and net returns and value cost ratio in comparison to other rainwater management treatments. R2 treatment receiving runoff from double the size maize was the next best in respect of all these parameters. Rainwater management treatments failed to s