Impact of drought on growth and yield of wheat as affected by mulch

Abstract

A decrease of water resources around the globe in irrigated agriculture has resulted in a steep decline in irrigation water availability. Therefore, management options for efficient use of available irrigation water are inevitable. Deciding the critical time, frequency and amount of irrigation are compulsory to achieve higher outputs. Hence, the impact of drought and mulch on the growth, yield and yield components of wheat were examined in a green house. The objective was to determine measures, which if taken will enhanced resistance to drought and increase yield of wheat with improved soil conservation. Six treatments were considered under no-mulch and with mulch condition and irrigation overtime and stage of crop growth. The result shows that there was an increase of 4.49%, 10.38% and 10.29% on biomass accumulation of wheat due to variation in mulch under full irrigation, mild and severe stress respectively. The research also revealed that under full irrigation, mulch slightly increases grain yield (0.98%). However, under mild and severe stress, a decrease of 16.42% and 24.32% was observed under mulch condition. Further field studies are needed to extrapolate the findings to a wider range of seasonal and site conditions.

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Keywords: Water Use Efficiency, irrigation water, green house, rice mulch, yield, wheat