Effects Of Lateral Spacing On Winter Wheat Growth,Grain Yield And Water Use Efficiency Under Drip Irrigation

A field experiment was conducted in the CAAS field site in Qiling County of Xinxiang,in the crop growing season of 2016/17.The experiment was carried to find out the effects of lateral spacing on winter wheat growth,grain yield and water use efficiency under drip irrigation.Water scarcity is a major concern in China,with diminishing water sources it is imperative to come up with irrigation methods that will save water and be sustainable in the long term.Drip irrigation is one of the water saving irrigation method and also produce high yield with little water used.The study intends to explore different drip lateral treatments under two emitters,to see their effect on grain yield and plant development.The experiment was made up of two experimental factors,drip lateral spacing and emitter rate,and four treatment levels for each factor T1,T2,T3,T4 had lateral spacing of 40,60,80,100 respectively with all having an emitter rate of 2.2L/h and T5,T6,T7,T8 had lateral spacing of 40,60,80,100 respectively with an emitter rate of 3.2L/h.The main shown the following;1.Plant height and leaf area index(LAI)were significantly increased with every irrigation taken and the maximum values were investigated.T1 and T5 had a maximum height taken higher than T4 and T8,drip lateral spacing was a major factor in this regard.2.Above ground biomass taken every fortnight increased significantly with T1 having a maximum of 1895.096 g/m~2 and T4 got a minimum ground cover of 1713.998 g/m~2.Above ground biomass decreased with an increase in drip lateral spacing.3.A smaller lateral spacing produced more yield,lateral spacing of 40 cm and 60 cm got a higher yield as compared to lateral spacing of 80 cm and 100 cm.A maximum of 11.4 t/ha was obtained from T5 followed by T1 at 10.988 t/ha,the largest lateral spacing recorded a lower grain lower yield with T8 at 9.905 t/ha and T4 with 10.221 t/ha.It was found from the experiment that treatments with higher water use efficiency produced desirable yield content.A maximum water use efficiency of 2.44 kg/m~3 was recorded in T3 and T5 and lowest water use efficiency recorded at 1.92 kg/m~3.4.The best combination of drip irrigation parameters for winter wheat suggested by this experiment is as: lateral space 40 cm,emitter rate 2.2 l/hr,and lower limit for irrigation 60% FC.