Responses of grain sorghum to variable water supply under two irrigation frequencies

Summary

Two experiments were conducted with Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench Cv. “Pioneer 846” in a deep loam soil in the 1977 season. Experiment I consisted of two line-source sprinkler plots, one irrigated at two-day intervals (HF) and the other every 10 to 14 days (NF). In comparable treatments of both regimes, the seasonal amount of water applied was the same. Since the subsoil was very dry at planting, the different amounts of water applied led to the development of a range of water stresses from none to severe. Experiment II was conducted in an adjacent area with a fully wetted soil profile. The treatments were irrigated every week (I) and nonirrigated (NI). Applied water was measured after each irrigation. Soil water content, leaf water potential, leaf-area index, ground cover and dry-matter accumulation were measured at frequent intervals, and yields were taken at the end of the growing season. Linear relations were found between both total dry-matter production and grain yield and seasonal evapotranspiration (ET) in both HF and NF regimes. With seasonal values of ET near the potential, grain yield and dry-matter production did not differ between irrigation frequencies. At low seasonal ET values, however, the NF regime gave greater yields of dry-matter and grain than did the HF regime.