soil moisture, salinity, water use efficiency and sunflower growth as influenced by irrigation,...

SOIL T E C H N O L O G Y vol. 3, p. 33--44 Cremlingen 1990 1

SOIL MOISTURE, SALINITY, WATER USE EFFICIENCY

AND SUNFLOWER GROWTH AS INFLUENCED BY IRRIGATION, BITUMEN MULCH AND PLANT

DENSITY s

S.A. Wahba, S.I. Abdel Rahman, M.Y. Tayel, Cai ro

M . A . M a t y n , G e n t

Summary

The effect of irrigation levels, 50, 75 and 100% of the net irrigation requirement IRn (IRs0, IR75 and IRl00) and bitumen concentration, 0, 50 and 75 g/m 2 (BL, Bl and B2) at a plant density of 8 plants/m 2 and the effect of plant densities of 5 and 8 plants/m 2 at IR75 on soil moisture and salinity, plant growth and water use efficiency were studied in two field experiments conducted in sandy soil located at Regwa experimental farm. Treatments were arranged in a split-plot design repli- cated four times.

Soil moisture conserved in the 5-20 cm layer within three days after irrigation increased with increasing bitumen concentration regardless of irrigation treatments. Soil moisture content in the root zone (0-60 cm) three days after irrigation, was affected by bitumen treatments (1% level). Mulching the soil surface with bituminous emulsion up to 75 g/m 2 decreased the mean salt concentration in the root zone (10% level). The least

ISSN 0933-3630 (~)1990 by CATENA VERLAG, D-3302 Cremlingen-Destedt, W. Germany 13033-3631)/90]51)llBS1/UgS 2.00 + 0.25

EC values were found under the condi- tion of B1 and IRl00. Irrigation treatments affected significantly these values (1% level).

Plant height, stem diameter and flower disk diameter increased significantly (1, 5 and 5% level resp.) with increasing irrigation level. The effect of bitumen concentration on those parameters in descending order was B~ > Bt > BL.

The negative effect of the deficit in water supply on seed yield was obviously greater than the positive one due to bitumen mulch. Decreasing planting density from 8 to 5 plants/m 2 approximately doubled the yield of seeds. The effect of planting space on increasing yield was evidently greater than that of bitumen mulch. Although water use efficiency at IRso was the same as that at IR~00, yet the seed index of the 2nd was approximately twice that of the 1st, i.e. seed quality of plants growing at IRs0 was poor.

* Contribution from the Egypt/EEC Coopera- tive Project Nr. SEM/01/220)021

SOIL TECHNOLOGY~A cooperating Journal of CATENA

34 Wahba, Abdel Rahman, Matyn & Tayel

1 Introduction

As a result of the increasing Egyptian population, creeping from the limited Nile Valley and Delta to the vast desert areas and converting them to a pro- ductive land under very limited irrigation water resources using highly efficient means, became the big challenge facing the agriculture. Nowadays, the shortage in food oil production became an acute problem facing the nation. The state pol- icy is to encourage sunflower production as an oil crop.

Few information concerning sunflower production growing in the newly culti- vated sandy areas is available. CHAUD- HARY & ANAND (1985) found that sunflower seed yield was associated with the plant characteristics during its growth period. COX & JALLIFF (1986) concluded that soil water deficits reduced the dry matter production and seed yield of sunflowers. HANG & EVANS (1985) found that moisture stress caused reduced plant development and decreased seed yield.

Two field experiments were conducted to study the changes in soil moisture, soil salinity, sunflower growth and water use efficiency under different treatments of irrigation, bitumen mulch and plant density.

2 Materials and methods

The experimental field is a part of an experimental farm owned by Regwa Com- pany for Research and Ground Water. The farm is located on Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, 110 km North of Cairo. The field is drip irrigated using well water.

The topography is almost level and moderately to well drained. The parent

materials are sand deposits. The typical profile description is as follows:

A: 0-15 em: Dull yellow orange (10YR6/4) wet; bright yellowish brown (10YR7/6) dry; sandy loam; massive; few gravel; many coarse roots; clear boundary.

Cl: 15-45 em: Orange (7.5YR6/6) wet; orange (7.5YR7/6) dry; sandy; single grains; some fine gravel; many lime accumulations of coarse and medium size; few roots; clear boundaries.

C2 :45-100 em: As above except, no roots; no lime accumulations.

The presence of iron-manganese con- cretions in addition to lime formation as cementing agents between gravel at depths between 15-45 cm, affects very much the root growth and water movement. This relatively impermeable layer affects the distribution of plant roots which grow laterally rather than vertically.

Some soil characteristics of the site are given in tab.1. The soil is classified according to SOIL SURVEY STAFF (1975) as Typic Torripsamment.

The area of study included 50 irrigation driplines, 50 m long and 1 m apart. Superphosphate (16% P2Os) was added at the rate of 125 kg/ha. The experimental field was ploughed two times to a depth of 20 cm using a harrow, and the undecomposed residues of the previous crops were removed. Treftex herbicide was sprayed at the rate of 900 ml in 500 1 of water on the field surface. The herbicide was mixed with the soil by the 3rd plough. The soil surface was levelled and the drip irrigation network was re- assembled. The total area was wetted to

SOIL TECHNOLOGY--A cooperating Journal of CA'I'ENA

Effects of Irrigation, Bitumen Mulch and Plant Density 35

Depth in Texture cm

0- 20 Loamy sand 20- 70 Gravelly sand 70-120 Gravelly sand

ECe dS/m

1.62 1.16 3.05

CaCO3 Gypsum pH % %

7.55 5.1 0.3 7.55 2.8 0.4 8.50 2.0 1.5

Tab. 1: Some soil characteristics of the site.

test the irrigation system and assure a good herbicide distribution. The seeds of sunflower plant (Helianthus annuus, var. Elia) were provided by the Field Crops Res. Inst., Agric. Research Center, Min- istry of Agriculture, Giza, Egypt. Two third of the area was devoted for the 1st experiment and the rest of the area for the 2nd one.

The 1st expriment:

The experiment was carried out in a split-plot design. Sunflower seeds were planted (one seed per pit) in two rows along the driplines and 15 cm away from them on each side. The distance between seed pits was 25 cm, giving a plant density of 8 plants/m 2. The three irrigation treatments namely 50, 75 and 100% of the net irrigation requirement IRn (IR50, IR75 and IRt00) occupied the main plots. Plots were irrigated 3 times weekly. The net irrigation requirement was calculated using the data of class A pan evaporation measurements, crop factor during growth period as follows:

Establishment period: 0.40 Early vegetative growth: 0.60 Late vegetative growth: 1.15 Flowering period: 1.40 Yield formation period: 1.00 Ripening stage: 0.50

and taking into consideration irrigation efficiency and leaching requirement as described by DOORENBOS & PRUITT (1977) and VERMEIREN & JOBLING

(1980). Water flowmeters were used to measure the amount of water applied in each treatment. The necessary correction in water quantities given in any irrigation was done in the next one. Each irrigation treatment included 12 driplines (600 m2). On the other hand, the sub- plots were occupied by the bitumen concentration treatments, namely 0, 50 and 75 g/m 2 (BL, Bt and B2). Bituminous emulsion was sprayed on soil surface to cover a distance of 25 cm on both sides of the dripline using a back sprayer (201). The spraying process took place on soil, containing a suitable moisture content within one week after planting and just before germination started. Each bitumen treatment included 4 driplines (200 m 2) within every irrigation treatment.

The 2nd experiment A separate area including 12 irrigation

driplines was devoted to test the effect of plant density 5 and 8 plants/m 2 (DI and D2) on the parameters under inves- tigation. Two rows were planted at a distance of 15 cm from the dripline. The distance between plants within the same row was 40 and 25 cm for Dt and D2, respectively. The plots were irrigated 3 times weekly at 75% of the net irrigation requirement (IR75).

Four replicates (50 m 2 each) Were used in the two experiments. No other cultural practices were done except those used for

SOIL TECHNOLOOY--A cooperating Journal of CATENA

36 Wahba, Abdel Rahman, Matyn dc Tayel

sunflower production in the area. The effect of irrigation, bitumen and plant density treatments on the following parameters:

a) The gravimetric soil moisture content 3 days after irrigation at 5, 15 and 30 cm from the driplines and from different soil layers, i.e., 0--5, 5-20, 20--40 and 40-60 cm,

b) salt distribution pattern,

c) plant growth, i.e. height, and the diameter of both stem and flower disk at the maximum vegetative stage (65 days after planting), and

d) seed yield and water use efficiency at the end of the growing season,

were tested. Four replicates each including 10 successive plants on the same dripline were taken for seed yield and seed index calculation.

3 Results and discussion

3.1 Soil moisture conservation

The data mentioned in tab.2 show that moisture content significantly decreased laterally away from the driplines (1% level) while, vertically, the layer (5- 20 cm) contained a higher moisture content than the other layers in most cases. The data are in good agreement with those obtained by TAYEL et al. (1988a). The average moisture content of the layer (5-20 cm) for the different bitumen and irrigation treatments indicates that at the lower irrigation levels, soil moisture retention increases proportion- ally with increasing the applied bitumen concentration. The increases in moisture of the soils mulched with B1 and B2 relative to BL were 45.5 and 57.6%,

respectively at IRs0, and 3.6 and 17.7%, respectively at IR75. Mulching the soil surface with B1 or B2 increased moisture retention by 10% at IRl00. The effect of bitumen application on the moisture content was significant at the I% level, as well as the interaction : irrigation x conditioner as shown in tab.4.

Mulching the soil surface with bitumen retains more moisture at the lower irrigation level compared to the higher one. Tab,2 also illustrates the average soil moisture content in the whole root zone at different irrigation levels regardless of mulching treatments, and at different bitumen concentrations regardless of irrigation treatments. Mulching the sandy soil with bitumen was more ef- fective in conserving moisture than increasing the irrigation level. This can be explained on the basis that increasing the irrigation level increased the soil conduc- tivity and plant growth and subsequently accelerated water losses by evapotranspi- ration while the bitumen crust formed on the soil surface reduced evaporation.

3.2 Salt distribution pattern

The effect of irrigation and bitumen treatments on salt distribution pattern in the 1:2.5 soil-water extract show that EC was higher in the surface layer than in the subsurface ones (tab.3). They ranged from 0.2 to 1.65 dS/m with the excep- tion of some spots where the EC reached 2.4 dS/m. TAYEL et al. (1988b) obtained similar results. A large increase in salt concentration on the top layer, 15 em from the driplines, especially in the IRs0 and BL treatments may be at- tributed to salt movement with wetting front. How far the waterfront can move horizontally from the driplines varies with bitumen concentration and irriga-

SOIL TECHNOLOGY--A cooperating Journal of CATENA


Conditioner ttmt Irri- gation Depth treatment (cm)

IR50 5 to 20 20 to 40 40 to 60

Aver. depth

IR75 5 to 20 20 to 40 40 to 60

Aver. depth

IRI00 5 to 20 20 to 40 40 to 60

Aver. depth

Average per distance & per conditioner treatment

Blank Bitumen 50 g]m 2 Bitumen 75 g/m 2 Average Distance L (cm) Distance L (cm) Distance L (cm) per depth

Aver. Aver. Aver. and per 5 15 30 Dist. 5 15 30 Dist. 5 15 30 Dist. irrigation

treatment

2,89 3.56 2.47 2.97 5.01 4.08 3.87 4.32 5.50 4.58 3.95 4.68 3.99 4.04 2.74 1.73 2.84 4.73 3,33 3.47 3.84 5.22 4.34 2.93 4.16 3.61 3.34 2.48 2.18 2.67 4.50 3.07 2.42 3.33 4.66 2.96 3.20 3.61 3.20 3.42 2.93 2.13 2.83 4.75 3.49 3.25 3.83 5.13 3.96 3.36 4,15 3,60

3,59 4.72 2.56 3.62 4.92 4.20 2.12 3.75 4.42 4.36 4.01 4.26 3.88 2.67 2.80 2.76 2.74 4.37 3.50 3.15 3.67 4.50 3.72 3.99 4.07 3,50 2.98 2.79 2.37 2.71 4.33 3.45 3.51 3.76 3.96 3.67 4.14 3.92 3.47 3.08 3.44 2.56 3.03 4.54 3.72 2.93 3.73 4.29 3.92 4.05 4.09 3,61

4.66 3.75 3.62 4.01 4,63 4.51 4.23 4.46 4.47 4.62 3,73 4.27 4,25 3.15 3.95 3,24 3.45 4,17 4.01 4.43 4.20 4.21 4.30 3.57 4,03 3.89 3.87 2.83 2.58 3.09 3.71 3.47 2.94 3.37 3.20 3,35 4.14 3.56 3.34 3.89 3.51 3.15 3.52 4.17 4.00 3.87 4.01 3,96 4.09 3,8l 3,95 3.83

3.47 3.29 2,61 3.12 4.49 3.74 3.35 3.86 4.46 3,99 3,74 4.06 3,68 General m e a n

rab. 2: Moisture pattern as affected by irrigation and bitumen treatment (w/w %, 2 days after irrigation)

Conditioner ttmt lrri. gation Depth treatment (cm)

0 to 5 IRso 5 to 20

20 to 40 40 to 60

Aver. depth

0 to 5 IR75 5 to 20

20 to 40 40 to 60

Aver. depth

0 to 5 IRlo 0 5 to 20

20 to 40 40 to 60

Aver. depth

Average per distance & per conditioner treatment

Blank Bitumen 50 g/m 2 Bitumen 75 g/m 2 Average Distance L (cm) Distance L (cm) Distance L (cm) per depth

Aver. Aver, Aver. and per 5 15 30 Dist. 5 15 30 Dist. 5 15 30 Dist. irrigation

treatment

0.95 1.62 0.40 0.99 0,65 1,56 1,10 1.10 0.28 1.04 0,72 0.19 0.50 0.43 0.37 0,27 0.50 0.60 0.46 0.29 0.58 0.56 0.20 0.63 0.55 0.46 0,37 0,50 0,44 0.44 0.20 0.40 0.43 0.05 0.71 0.49 0.42 0.16 0.42 0.42 0.33 0.26 0.43 0.37 0.35 0.86 0.47 0.56 0,36 0,75 0,64 0.58 0.26 0.61 0.52

0.48 2.40 1.65 1.51 0.20 1.42 1.34 0.99 0,21 1.62 1.44 0.30 0.42 0.38 0.37 0.14 0.23 0.34 0.24 0.13 0,26 0,19 0.40 0.37 0.20 0.32 0.18 0.30 0.45 0.31 0.11 0.12 0.67 0.82 1.19 0.77 0.93 0,46 0,45 0,58 0.50 0.60 0.69 0.98 0.50 1.09 0.75 0.78 0.25 0.60 0.68 0.51 0.26 0.67 0.82

0.49 1.03 0.80 0.77 0.20 0.37 0.86 0,48 0.67 0.69 0.70 0.31 0.48 0.35 0.38 0.12 0.27 0.34 0.24 0.13 0.29 0.54 0,12 0.30 0.24 0.22 0.20 0.24 0.20 0,21 0.08 0.20 0.30 0.19 0,22 0.20 0.20 0.43 0.23 0.14 0.27 0.07 0.11 0.30 0.28 0.51 0.40 0.39 0,24 0.28 0.39 0.30 0.24 0.32 0.46

0.38 0.82 0,54 0.58 0.28 0.54 0.57 0.46 0.25 0.54 0.60 0.46

0.68 0.92 0.48 0.44 0.34 0.41 0.35 0.37 0.46 0.54

1.09 1.20 0.19 0.27 0.30 0.31 0.76 0.73 0.59 0.62

0.69 O.65 0.32 0.31 0,19 021 0,16 0.21 0,34 0.34

0,50 General mean

Tab. 3: Salt distribution pattern as affected by irrigation and bitumen treatments ( ECh2.5 dS/m).

SOIL TI~CHNOLOGY--.A cooperating Journal of CATENA

38 Wahba, Abdel Rahman, Matyn & Tayel

moisture source of df mean of variance squares

I 2 0.4358 B 2 6.5902"*

I x B 4 0.4875"" D 2 3.3217

I x D 4 0.2090 B x D 4 0.0528

L 2 5.5097"" I x L 4 0.8183 + B x L 4 0.2645 D × L 4 0.3812 error 243 0.3753

source of df variances

R 3 I 2

R x I 6 B 2

B x I 4 error 18

+, *, "*: Significant

salt df mean of

squares

2 0.7363"" 2 0.1602 + 4 0.0772 3 2.1956"* 6 0.2461"* 6 0.0347 2 1.1014"* 4 0.1327" 4 0.1117 + 6 0.2705"*

324 0.0540

mean of squares plant height

51.653 738.637" 81.846 15.850 1.819

68.664

stem flower diameter diameter

0.034 1.598 0.123"" 77.817"* 0.009 1.853 0.003 0.312 0.002 0.064 0.016 1.870

at 10, 5 and I% level, resp.

Tab. 4: Analysis of variance. R - replicates; D - depths; B - bitumen treatments; L - distance from dripline; I - irrigation treatments X x Y - interactions.

t ion level. TAYEL et al. (1988a) and DE B O O D T (1979) s tated that increasing i r r igat ion and b i tumen concent ra- t ion enhance the hor izonta l water movement. Tab.4 shows that the i r r iga t ion t reatments significantly affected the salt content in the roo tzone (1% level); also depth and distance from dripline gave significant changes in EC values.

The average salt content (tab.3) in the root zone o f both B1 and B2 t rea tments was lower than tha t o f BL by 19% (independent of the i r r iga t ion treatments) . The lowest EC values were obta ined under the highest i r r iga t ion level (IRl0o) ( independent of the condi t ioner t reatments).

3.3 P l an t g r o w t h

Concern ing p lant height, s tem d iamete r and the flower disk d iameter , figs.1 and 2 i l lust ra te the response o f p lan t height and its d iameter (in cm) to i r r igat ion, bitumen, and p lan t ing densi ty t rea tments . The effect o f b i tumen concen t ra t ions on the two pa ramete r s men t ioned was in the fol lowing ascending order : BL < B1 < B2 and that o f i r r iga t ion ones was IRs0 < IRTs < IRI0o. I t can be not iced tha t the differences in bo th p l an t height and its d iamete r between BL from one side and B1 and B2 f rom the o ther side is small a t IRs0 and vice versa at IRl00. Also, increas ing p lan t densi ty f rom 5 to 8 p lan t s /m 2 yielded shor te r and th inner plants. N A R W A L & M A L I K (1986) found higher yields with 45 cm row spac- ings c o m p a r e d to 60 cm ones.

SOIL TECHNOLOOY--A cooperatitlg Journal of CATENA

Effects o f Irrigation, Bitumen Mulch and Plant Density 39

Data on hand show that the response of the vegetative growth to irrigation treatments was much more than to bitumen concentrations. The effect of the studied parameters on flower disk diameter could be seen in fig.3. The change in disk diameter took the trend of the stem diameter, but it was more evident and steady. Tab.4 indicates that irrigation treatments affected significantly the plant height (at 5% level), stem and flower diameter at 1% level.

3.4 Seed yield

The average seed yield was greater for treatment Bl than BL and B2 treatments (tab.5, fig.4). At IRs0 the yield of Bt exceeded that of BL and B2 treatments by 4.4 and 26.4%, while the increases were 17 and 42.5% at IR75, and 13.3 and 27.6% at IRt00, respectively. It is obvious that irrigation level influences seed yield more than bitumen.

The effect of BL, B1 and B2 treatments on seed yield order: IR100 > IR75 > IRso. The yield at IRma was always more than twice that at both IRs0 and IR75. It means that decreasing irrigation water to 75% of the net water requirement or less reduced the seed yield by more than 50%. SHINDE et al. (1986) and COX & JALLIFF (1986) found similar results. Although there was a positive effect from using bitumen mulch on seed yield, this could not compensate for the negative effect due to the insufficient irrigation water.

Seed yield was always greater for B1 than B2. This could be explained as follows; the effect of bitumen mulch is prin- cipally due to its effect on soil temperature and moisture content. Soil temperature affects microbial activity, chemical reactions, rate and availability of plant

nutrients (CALLEBAUT & DE BOODT 1981). KRUrGER & BENKENSTEIN (1971) mentioned that the surface treatment of a sandy soil with bitumen emulsion resulted in a temperature increase by 8.8°C to 4 cm below the mulched layer. Also, the lower moisture content increased the temperature of the top soil layer as a result of decreasing its heat capacity, heat transmission to the deeper layer and evaporation. TAYEL & WAHBA (1986) found that mulching a sandy soil with bitumen (50 g/m 2) increased the top soil temperature by 1.9°C, while increasing the bitumen dose to 100 g/m 2 increased the temperature by 6.4°C. This obvious increase in temperature will increase the soil - water temperature which may accelerate the evaporation and affect the physiological process of the plants. This may be affected by the higher temperature difference and this at least will be reflected on seed formation. Also raising soil temperature may hasten up maturity but on the expense of yield.

The effect of irrigation and bitumen treatments on seed index is graphically shown in fig.5. Regardless of bitumen treatments, seed index response to irrigation treatments could be expessed by the following order: IR100 > IR75 > IRs0. On the other hand, these descending or- ders indicate the effect of bitumen treatments on seed index: B1 > BL > B2 at both IRs0 and IRl00, and B1 = BL > B2 at IRTs.

3.5 Water use and water use efficiency

The sensitivity of sunflower to decreasing water application can only slightly be compensated by bitumen application. The total water application as m3/ha, and Water Use Efficiency (kg/m 3) using seed yield in kg/ha, were calculated for

SOIL TECHNOLOGY--A cooperating Journal of CATENA

40 Wahba, Abdel Rahman, Matyn ,f,: Tayel

._. 6O

v

4 0

2o

,:,:. I ::':I : : : : : : :

:::: ~ ::i I :i:: ~ ::: . . . . . . . .

:::~ I ::::1 :::: I !:i::--iiiiii , i:}: , ::::'.--iiiiii ~ :!:!: ~ i ! i~ i - - l l l l l l ' !:!:i ~ :::::-!!!!!! ~ ::::: ~ : ! : ! :~l l l l l l I :~:: ~ :::::~l l l lU , :::$: ' i:::::-----iiliii I ::::. ~ ~:i:i !i~! ] li:!i -lllIIl ~

~_111111

75% IR n

_ q - i..~. -_-- i l l l lF ' ,

iil}i---"'"" I ~----Il l l l l I

~-IIIIll I '

i!i!i

l:.::~--_Jllll I _

100% IR n

Fig, 1: Plant height.

1.2

1.0

0.8 A

v

0 . 6 t o

$ + a

'~ 0 . 4

0.2

. . . . . . I

~ = - I I I I I I I

- - , , , , , , , ' , ; . ; = . . . . . . . .

:~?~=':'S ! - - ,. ,. ,. ! ,. ,. ,

ii!f =~lillll I i@~!!!!!! I ii!!! IIlll :

:=111111 I ~d'.!!!!! ! ii]i:: ~!!!!!! I

iliil -~---111!11 I ~II[U : . . . . . .

- - i i i 1 1 1 i

• I - - * ' l I ' . q '.

5(2~ JR n

:£ : t

? t I

Jlllll I

7b~, IR n

;'5

iil i fill ii!i

lOu% IR n

02 DI

I

i

Fig . 2 : Stem diameter.

S O I L T E C H N O L O G Y - - A c o o p e r a t i n g J o u r n a l o f C A ' I ' E I q A

Effects o f Irrigation, Bitumen Mulch and Plant Density 41

12

~. I0

QJ

6

4 o

~2

50% 1R n

"I

"I~ ~ - I 75% IR n 100% IR n

i I

~D

75% IR n

Fig. 3: Flower disk diameter.

Bi tumen C o n c e n t r a t i o n

0 g /mZ 50 /m 2 g

75 /m 2 g r--- • ; . . . . J mean values of b i t t reatments

D I 8 p lants/m 2

D 2 5 p lants/m 2

E fFec t o f i r r i g a t i o n , biLumen and p l a n t i n g d e n s i t y

t r e a t m e n t s on : F ig 1 : p l a n t h e i g h t

Fig 2: stem diameter

Fig 3: Flower disk diameter.

SOIL TECHNOLOOY--A cooperating Jounnal of CATENA

42 Wahba, Abdel Rabman, Matyn & Tayel

v

~ j

1080

Bitumen Concentr.

[ ] 0 g /m 2

50 g /m 2

[2~] 75 g Im~ ¢ - - - ~

;._ : mean values of b i t . t reatments

D 1 8 plant /m 2

D 2 5 plant /m 2

720

r - '

360

50% IR n 75% IR n 100% IR n 75% IR n

Fig. 4: Effect of irrigation, bitumen and planting density on seed yield.

SOIL TECHNOLOOY--A =oop~rating Journal of CATENA


Irrigation SY, WU Treatment and WUE

IRso SY WU WUE

IR75 SY WU WUE

IRto o SY WU WUE

BL

351.9 1238.5 0.284

367.4 1.857.4 0.198

844.5 2480.9

0.340

Bitumen treatment

B t B2

447.1 290.7 1238.5 1238.5 0.361 0.235

521.0 300.7 1857.4 1857.4 0.280 0.162

1100.5 766.4 2480.9 2480.9

0.444 0.309

a v e r .

363.3 1238.5 0.293

396.3 1857.4 0.213

903,8 2480.9

0.364

Plant density plants/m 2 8 5

466.0 904.8 1935.0 1935.0 0,241 0.468

Tab. 5: Seed yield (SY in kg/ha), Water Use (WU in m3/ha) and Water Use Efficiency (WUE in kg/m3 ).

b.O

4 . 5

4 . 0

~ 3 . 5 oJ OA

3 .0 Q C )

2.5

2 .0 X

'12

,~ 1 .5 @ @ u~ 1 .0

0 . 5

Bitumen Concentration

'=7 0 g /m 2

50 g Im 2

[ ~ 7 5 g /m 2

,%° i i

:i:i ".,' : . ' , e , .:.: - ,

• m ,:.: . . '..:,i • 4 ,%,, ~ i ,:.:, • , %,,, ~ i :.:,' • , ::::: " ,

• ¢ ,:,:, . , ' , ' , ' • ,

,:...,. , ::':: .. ,

i , ' , ' l i i

, ' , , i a

50% IRn

:.q eq ~,%' I [

Q

i

75% IR n 100% I R n

Fig. 5: Seed index as affected by irrigation and bitumen treatments.

S O I L T E C H N O L O G Y - - A c o o p e r a t i n g J o u r n a l o f C A T E N A

44 Wahba, Abdel Rahman, Matyn ,fz Tayel

the different treatments. Tab.5 shows that:

a) For any irrigation treatment, the highest WUE was obtained at B1 treatment.

b) Decreasing planting density from 8 to 5 plants/m 2 gave the best results for WUE, amd

c) The higher WUE value at IRs0 seems to be positive, but the total yield and its quality as indicated by seed index are very low to grow sunflower economically.

SHINDE et al. (1987) found that increasing irrigation depth increased water use but decreased water use efficiency, partially confirmed by our experiments when irrigation increased from 50 to 75% of IR,t.

References

CALLEBAUT, F. & DE BOODT, M. (1981): Ef- fect of various soil conditioners used as mulchcs on soil temperature. A laboratory experiment. Egypt. J. Soil Science, Special Issue, 13.

CHAUDHARY, S.K. & ANAND, I.J. (1985): In- fluence of various characters on yield of sunflower. Div. Genetics Indian Agric. Res. Inst., New Delhi 110 102, India.

COX, W.J. & JALLIFF, G.D. (1986): Growth and yield of sunflower and soybean under soil water deficits. Agronomy J. 78(2), 226-230.

DE BOODT, M. (1979): Soil conditioning for better soil management. Outlook on Agriculture 10, 63-70.

DOORENBOS, J. & PRUITT, W.O. (1977): Crop water requirements. EA.O. Rome. Irri- gation and Drainage Paper No. 24.

HANG, A.N. & EVANS, D.W. (1985): Deficit sprinkler irrigation of sunflower and safflower. Agronomy J. 77(4), 588-592.

KRUGER, W. & BENKENSTEIN, J. (1971): Zur Erh~Shung der Bodentemperatur durch Fltissigmulchen mit synthetischen Boden- verbcsscrungsmitteln. Arc. Bodenfruchtbark. U. Pflanzenprodukt. Bd. 15, H. 3, 207-218.

NARWAL, S,S. & MALII(, D.S. (1986): Growth and yield response of sunflower cultivars to row spacing and nitrogen. Dep. Agron. Haryana Agric. Univ,, Hisar 125 004, India. Internat. J. Tropical Agriculture 4(1), 40-45.

SHINDE, S.H., DHONDE, P.W. & PAWAR, A.D. (1987): Effects of depth and frequency of irrigation on yield of sunflower. J. of Maha- rashtra Agric. Univ. 12(1), 104-105.

SOIL SURVEY STAFF (1975): Soil Taxonomy, basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil survey. USDA Agriculture Handbook No. 436.

TAYEL, M.Y., GHAZY, A. & WAHAB, M.A. (1988a): Effect of drip irrigation system on soil characteristics under different mulching rates. 1. Water distribution pattern. Egypt. J. Soil Sci. 28(3), 363-374.

TAYEL, M.Y., WAHAB, M.A. & GHAZY, A. (1988b): Effect of drip irrigation system on soil characteristics under different mulching ratcs. 2. Salt distribution pattern. Egypt. J. Soil Sci. 28(3), 375-383.

TAYEL, M.Y. & WAHBA, S.A. (1986): Soil temperature as affected by various soil conditioners used as a mulch. Egypt. J. Soil Sci. 26(3), 261-267.

VERMEIREN, L. & JOBLING, G.A. (1980): Localized irrigation. Design, installation oper- ation, evaluation. EA.O. Rome. Irrigation and Drainage Paper no. 36.

Addresses of authors: S.A. Wahba S.I. Abdel Rahman M.Y. Tayel Soils and Water Use Department National Research Center Dokki Cairo, Egypt M.A. Matyn Soil Physics Department Faculty of Agriculture State University of Gent Gent, Belgium

SOIL TECHNOLOGY--A cooperating Journal of CA'I'r~NA

soil moisture, salinity, water use efficiency and sunflower growth as influenced by irrigation,...

Documents