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OPTIMIZATION OF SUBSURFACE DRIP LATERAL
DEPTHS AND IRRIGATION LEVELS FOR BEST YIELD RESPONSE OF ONION (ALLIUM CEPA L.)
M. S. Afzal1, M. J. M. Cheema1,3,
M. A. Shahid1,, M. Arshad1 and T. Khaliq2
1Department of Irrigation &
Drainage, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, University of
Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan
2Department
of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad,
Pakistan
3Faculty
of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi,
Pakistan
Correspondence
to: Muhammad Sohail Afzal (msohail1227@yahoo.com)
ABSTRACT
Drip
irrigation is being used for growing high value crops as an alternative to
traditional flood irrigation. However, high installation cost and short life
(due to exposure to atmosphere) are major hindrances in its adoptability. Sub
Surface Drip Irrigation (SSDI) is getting popularity for high value crops, as
drip lines buried in the soil. However, its efficiency for different crops is still
needed to explore. For this purpose, a study was designed to grow onion (Allium cep L.) on raised
beds and irrigated through surface and subsurface drip irrigation for two years
(i.e. 2015-16 and 2016-17). Three irrigations based on 100%, 80% and 60% of
crop water requirement were applied with the drip laterals buried at depths of
0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 cm with three replications for each treatment. Dripper
discharge of 4 l/s with operating pressure of one kg cm-2 was
maintained for each irrigation. A significant effect
of lateral depth was observed with maximum yield of 13,990 kg ha-1 obtained
at 12 cm lateral depth, while minimum yield of 9,020 kg ha-1 was
observed at the lateral depth of 24 cm. It can be concluded that shallow depth
vegetables like onion can be grown with maximum irrigation water use efficiency
of 57 kg ha-1 mm-1 using SSDI buried at the depth of 12
cm. Therefore, it is recommended that onion should be grown under SSDI with 12
cm depth and irrigated with 80% of CWR for better crop production and higher
drip application efficiency in semi-arid regions.
Keywords: SSDI; lateral depth; irrigation
water use efficiency; yield characteristics. |