The Effect of Deficit Irrigation and Irrigation Method on Water Productivity, Yield, and Yield Components of Wheat

In order to investigate the effect of deficit irrigation on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of wheat (Triticum asetivum L.) Morvareed cultivar, an experiment has been carried out with three main treatments including surface drip irrigation (TS), subsurface drip irrigation (TSS), and Furrow irrigation (F), as well as three submain treatments containing irrigation levels 50% (I1), 75% (I2), and 100% (I3) of the plant water requirement. It has taken place in the research farm of Ardebil Agricultural Research and Training Center in Moghan region during 2016-2017. The experiment is conducted as split plot based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Results show that the highest 1000-grain weight, harvest index and number of tillers per unit area are obtained with 0.05 kg, 42% and 448.56 in I3 and protein content with 9.56% in I1, respectively. Also, the highest grain yield (7122.33 kg ha-1) is obtained from the TS with irrigation level of I3 (no significant difference between I3 and I1). Meanwhile, the highest water productivity based on grain yield with 1.81 kg m-3 is obtained from the treatment of F with I1. The lowest grain yield with 2866.67 kg ha-1 and water productivity based on grain yield with 1.05 kg m-3 belongs to F with irrigation levels of I1 and I3, respectively. Therefore, the surface drip (TS) with 75% (I2) and 100% (I3) of crop water requirement in conditions of water deficiency and no-water-deficiency, respectively, can be considered as optimum methods for wheat production in the Moghan region.