The Effect of Deficit irrigation on yield and water use efficiency of wheat: a case study of Bardsir plain

Water scarcity is one of the limiting factors for agricultural production in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Being located on a major global dry belt, many parts of Iran tend to experience frequent fluctuations in precipitation levels. Under these conditions, it is necessary to make the best use unit volume of water. To achieve the maximum possible water use efficiency in agriculture, the plants should be given just enough water to reach an acceptable crop yield. This study investigated the effect of deficit irrigation on wheat yield in the Bardsir plain of Kerman, Iran, in the crop year 2019-2020. The experiment was performed in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), using 4 treatments and 3 replications, 100, 85, 70 and 60 percent of water irrigation requirements were considered as 4 different treatments. The highest crop yield was observed in the treatment with 100% irrigation and the highest water use efficiency was achieved in the treatment with 15%deficit irrigation. Therefore, to maximize the water efficiency of wheat production in the Bardsir region, wheat farms in this area should receive water in amounts equivalent to 85% of their irrigation water requirement.