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Irrigation and Deep Tillage Effects on Productivity of Dry-Seeded Rice in a Subtropical Environment

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Abstract

Dry-seeded rice has a potential to save water, but may entail loss in yield. A 2-year field study examined the combined effects of irrigation frequency and deep tillage on water use and productivity of rice cultivars differing in duration to maturity. Mean grain yield was greater in shorter (5.4 t ha−1) than in medium-duration (4.0 t ha−1) cultivar. Yield gain was more with deep tillage over conventional tillage (25–42%) than with full irrigation over partial irrigation regime (11–16%). Benefits of deep tillage were greater with partial (35–55%) than with full-irrigation regime (15–35%) for the two cultivars. Harvest-time soil water in top 0.30-m-depth layer was 0.2–1.0% (absolute) less with deep tillage than with conventional tillage. It implies that deep tillage enhanced profile water depletion component of crop water use. These effects can be attributed to denser rooting below 0.10 m depth due to a reduction in soil penetration resistance under deep tillage that helped in better mining of subsoil water suggesting that deep tillage could be used as a water-saving intervention.

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Authors’ Contribution

VK Arora planned, executed and interpreted field research and finalized the manuscript. R Joshi conducted one year research and prepared preliminary draft of the paper. CB Singh assisted in overall conduct of field research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 141004, India

    V. K. Arora, R. Joshi & C. B. Singh

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  1. V. K. Arora
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  2. R. Joshi
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  3. C. B. Singh
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Correspondence to V. K. Arora.

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Arora, V.K., Joshi, R. & Singh, C.B. Irrigation and Deep Tillage Effects on Productivity of Dry-Seeded Rice in a Subtropical Environment. Agric Res 7, 416–423 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-018-0323-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-018-0323-9

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