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Drip irrigation and fertigation improve economics, water and energy productivity of spring sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in Indian Punjab
Agricultural Water Management 185 (2017) 58–64
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Drip irrigation and fertigation improve economics, water and energy productivity of spring sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in Indian Punjab Indu Sinha, G.S. Buttar, A.S. Brar ∗ Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 2 September 2016 Received in revised form 4 February 2017 Accepted 8 February 2017 Keywords: Sunflower productivity Economics Apparent water productivity Drip irrigation and fertigation schedules
a b s t r a c t A field experiment was conducted to find out water and energy efficient irrigation and fertigation schedule for higher profitability from spring sunflower during 2014 and 2015. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design keeping combinations of three drip irrigation {(100, 80 and 60% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc)} and three fertigation schedules {(100, 80 and 60% of recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) i.e. 60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 )} with an extra absolute control treatment (furrow irrigation and manual application of RDF). The seed yield of sunflower was statistically at par between drip irrigation at 100 and 80% ETc but significantly better than 60% of ETc. However, apparent water productivity (AWP) and energy productivity was higher in drip at 80% ETc than 100 or 60% ETc. The crop drip irrigated at 80% ETc produced 397 g more seed yield with each cubic metre of irrigation water applied at yield advance and water saving of 27.8 and 33.3% than absolute control, respectively. Among the fertigation schedules, seed yield, oil yield and AWP were significantly higher from 100% RDF than 80 or 60% RDF and similar trend was observed for net returns and energetics. Drip irrigation either at 100% of ETc or 80% ETc with 100% of RDF or 80% of RDF produced significantly higher seed yield, net returns and energy productivity than absolute control. Thus, drip irrigation at 80% of ETc with 80% of RDF is more economically viable with higher water and energy productivity than absolute control. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction India needs to produce 17.8 million tonnes of edible oil for nutritional requirement of projected population of 1685 million by 2050 and this target is very difficult to achieve with the current production technology. India has imported 14.42 million tonnes of edible oil during 2014–15, which is a big drain on foreign exchange pool of the country (Anon, 2016). Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) belongs to family compositae (Asteracae) and is a native of North America and grown for edible oil. In India, sunflower was grown on 0.52 million hectares with a production of 0.304 million tonnes at productivity level of 729 kg ha−1 (Anon, 2014). In Punjab, sunflower was grown on 10,700 ha with production and productivity of 18,700 t and 1743 kg ha−1 , respectively (Anon, 2015).
∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141 004, India. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.S. Brar). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2017.02.008 0378-3774/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Sunflower seeds have high content of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as vitamin E (Kleingartner, 1997). Sunflower oil is considered as premium oil due to its light colour, bland flavor, high smoke point (252–255 ◦ F), good nutritional quality with oleic acid content of 42–57% and linoleic acid 33–48%. High proportion of essential fatty acids in sunflower oil reduces blood cholesterol in human being. Oleic acid present in sunflower seed is useful in cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Sunflower oil is considered as a rich source of the first two B complex vitamins than any other oilseed (Caldinin, 1958). Rice-wheat is the predominant cropping system of Punjab and the state contributed 24.2% and 36.8% rice and wheat to central pool of the country during 2014–15, respectively (Sharma and Chahal, 2016). But monoculture of this cropping system on large scale led to degradation of natural resources and water table is declining at an alarming rate of 0.4–0.9 m/annum (Brar et al., 2012). Thus, there is an urgent need to replace rice from this cropping system with some low water requiring crops. Sunflower offers good opportunity for diversification of cereal based cropping system of the state as this crop fits well in multiple cropping systems like maize −potato-
I. Sinha et al. / Agricultural Water Management 185 (2017) 58–64
sunflower and can enhance the profitability of the farmers. In these cropping system, sunflower is planted during spring season from end of January to first week of February and remains in field up to first fortnight of May. The high evaporative demand of spring season makes its water requirement quite high despite a short duration crop. The yield of sunflower is greatly influenced by fertilizer and irrigation practices and therefore, potential yield can be achieved by adopting optimum fertigation and irrigation scheduling. Maintenance of adequate moisture in soil profile through irrigation is an important pre-requisite to reap the rich harvest of sunflower crop because rainfall is very scanty during spring season in north India. Optimum moisture also plays an important role in ripening and synchronous maturity of heads as it exhibits the hydro positive features. So, efficient method of irrigation for the sunflower crop not only saves water, but also realizes higher yield. Hence it becomes, imperative to investigate the different methods of irrigation to realize more production per unit of water through efficient utilization of available water resources. Border method of irrigation is generally practiced because of convenience which leads to significant wastage of irrigation water. Borders are usually long, uniformly graded strips of land, separated by earth bunds and flood irrigation is applied. Therefore, development of irrigation technique which ensures large coverage of area with a given quantity of water without any adverse effect on yield is need of the hour. Drip irrigation is a very efficient method, which reduces water requirement by reducing the application losses, reduces weed growth and providing the water and nutrient beneath the root zone of the plant (Kaur and Brar, 2016). So, under water scarcity conditions productivity of a crop can be improved significantly through drip irrigation by decreasing the leaching and evaporation loses (El-Hendawy et al., 2008). Ramah (2008) reported water saving of 12–84% through drip irrigation over flood in different crops coupled with increased productivity. No research work has so far been done to study the combined effect of drip irrigation and fertigation in sunflower under north-western Indian conditions. Hence, the present study was planned, to find out the water and energy efficient irrigation and fertigation schedule for higher profitability from spring sunflower.
2. Materials and methods 2.1. Weather and climate An experiment was conducted at Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during spring seasons of 2014 and 2015. The experimental site is situated at an altitude of 247 m above mean sea level with latitude of 30◦ 56 N and longitude of 75◦ 48 E. This area represents central plain region of state in trans-gangetic plain agro climatic zone of India. The climate of the region is characterized as sub-tropical to semi-arid with hot and dry summer (April to June), hot and humid monsoon (July to September), mild winter (October to November) and cold winter from December to February. Considerable fluctuations in mean minimum and maximum temperatures are experienced during summer and winter. Maximum air temperature of >38 ◦ C experienced during summer and frequent frosty spells are recorded during December-January. The average annual rainfall lies between 500 and 750 mm and 75% of which is received during summer monsoon (July to September) with a few showers during winter season. Almost similar weather conditions were experienced during 2014 and 2015 crop seasons. Total amount of rainfall recorded during cropping season of 2014 and 2015 were 118.5 mm and 158.4 mm, respectively. The mean weekly temperature remained between 12.5–31.4 ◦ C and 12.9–32.1 ◦ C and relative humidity
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ranged between 36 and 79% and 36–86% during 2014 and 2015, respectively. The reference ET (calculated according to FAO irrigation and drainage bulletin number 56) calculated in the range of 1.4–7.1 mm day−1 during 2014 and 1.5–6.9 mm day−1 during 2015. 2.2. Soil and methodology The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design, keeping combinations of three irrigation (100% ETc, 80% ETc and 60% ETc) and three fertigation schedule (100% RDF, 80% RDF and 60% RDF) through drip with an extra absolute control (recommended furrow irrigation with basal and top dressing of RDF) and all the treatments repeated three times (Fig. 1). The soil of the experimental site was sandy loam in texture, normal in reaction (pH 7.34), low in organic carbon (0.33%) and available nitrogen (188.1 kg ha−1 ) medium in available phosphorous (13.7 kg ha−1 ) and high in available potassium (324.9 kg ha−1 ). 1/5th fertilizer dose of recommended N and P (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 ) was applied at sowing and remaining 4/5th dose was applied through fertigation as per treatment, starting one month after sowing and completed within 45 days. Urea and ortho-phosphoric acid were the source of N and P2 O5 for fertigation plots, while urea and single super phosphorous were used as source of N and P2 O5 in absolute control, respectively. Half dose of nitrogen and full dose of P2 O5 were applied at sowing and remaining half N after first irrigation (one month after sowing). A heavy pre-sowing irrigation (75 mm depth) was given to entire experimental area before seed bed preparation to ensure adequate moisture in the soil profile. Sunflower crop was planted on February 4, 2014 and February 5, 2015 using 5 kg seed ha−1 on southern side of east-west ridges at spacing of 60 cm. The sowing was done by dibbling two seeds per hill maintaining plant to plant spacing of 30 cm. To check on weeds Stomp (pendimethaline 30 EC) at 2500 ml ha−1 was applied next day of sowing and no hand weeding was done during both the years. The crop was harvested when heads turned brown at lower surface and the stalk starts drying. The harvested heads from net plot size of 8.10 m2 (1.8 m × 4.5 m) were dried and then thrashed manually. Oil content in seeds was determined with Soxhlet ethanol extraction method and oil yield was worked out by multiplying the seed yield with oil content. In absolute control, first irrigation was applied one month after sowing and thereafter irrigation was applied at two week interval up to end of March and at 8–10 days interval during April-May keeping 6 cm depth of irrigation. Irrigation was applied at three days interval through drip and depth of irrigation was kept equal to sum of three days crop evapotranspiration (ETc) as per treatment. Daily reference ET (ETo) was calculated with the help of ETo calculator available on website of FAO using location specific daily meteorological data (Minimum temperature, maximum temperature, mean temperature, maximum relative humidity, minimum relative humidity, mean relative humidity, sunshine hours and wind speed). Then daily ETc was worked out by multiplying the daily ETo value with crop coefficient of 1.0 up to end of March and 1.5 thereafter. The crop coefficient values (1.0–1.5) were taken from FAO 56 paper. Drip irrigation was applied to each plot with a lateral pipe having dripper discharge of 4.0 lph and dripper placed at 30 cm apart. A water meter was installed on PVC pipe used for irrigation to drip as well as furrow irrigated plots to compute irrigation water applied. Total irrigation water applied during whole crop growing season was calculated by cumulating the irrigation water applied. In furrow irrigation absolute control plots, ETc was calculated by total soil moisture removal from 0 to 180 cm soil profile before and after irrigation using water balance equation. ETc = Re + I + S − D + Fxdt
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Fig. 1. Lay out plan of the experiment.
Where, ETc is the crop evapotranspiration (mm day−1 ), Re is the effective rainfall (mm), I is irrigation (mm), S is change in soil moisture storage (mm), Fx is the vertical flux (mm day−1 ) and dt is the time duration. Since the water table depth of the experimental site was deep (>3.5 m), the upward flux was negligible, drainage was also absent because the amount of irrigation water was only sufficient to bring the water deficit to field capacity. Change in soil moisture, S, in the profile for particular irrigation interval was determined using following relationship; S =
(M2 − M1) × d × d1 100
M 1 and M 2 are the percentage of soil moisture recorded on dry weight basis before and after irrigation; d is the bulk density (g cm−3 ); d1 is the depth of sampling (mm). The dry weight basis soil moisture was measured through gravimetric method up to 180 cm soil profile. Apparent water productivity (AWP) as reported in literature (Brar et al., 2012) was estimated with respect to applied irrigation water for sunflower seed yield. AWP (kg m−3 ) = Seed yield of sunflower (kg ha−1 /Irrigation water applied (m3 ha−1 ))
2.3. Energy and economic analysis The total energy used in one hectare was calculated by addition of the partial energies of human labour, diesel and petrol fuel, machinery, irrigation, chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals. To estimate the energy of inputs and agronomic practices (expressed in MJ/ha) the energy equivalents were used as mentioned in Table 1. The energy output of biomass, bio energy gained from economic product and by product was calculated using their energy equivalents (Table 1). The energy use efficiency and energy productivity were calculated using the formulae as reported by Demircan et al. (2006). Energy use efficiency = Energy output (MJ ha−1 )/Energy input (MJ ha−1 ) Energy productivity = Sunflower seed yield (q ha−1 )/Energy input (MJ ha−1 ) Net returns were calculated by deducting the variable cost from gross returns.
2.4. Statistical analysis Analysis of variance was performed to see the influence of irrigation and fertigation schedules on various parameters of sunflower
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Table 1 Energy equivalents of different inputs and agronomic practices. Energy sources
Units
Energy equivalents (MJ)
Reference
Human Machinery (a) Tractor (b) Farm Machinery Diesel (including cost of lubricants) Petrol (including cost of lubricants) Fertilizers (a) N (b) P2 O5 (c) K2 O Herbicides Insecticides Fungicides Oil seeds Irrigation water
Hrs
1.96
Panesar and Bhatnagar (1994)
Hrs Hrs L L
64.80 62.70 56.31 48.23
kg kg kg kg kg kg kg m3
60.6 11.1 6.7 120
25.0 0.63
Yaldiz et al. (1993)
Table 2 Effect of irrigation and fertigation schedules on yield attributes of sunflower (pooled mean of 2 years). Fertigation schedule (FS)
Capitulum diameter (cm) 100% RDFa 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute controlb LSD (p = 0.05) 1000-seed weight (g) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05) Seeds/capitulum (no.) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05) a b
Irrigation schedule (IS)
Absolute control
100% ETc
80% ETc
60% ETc
Mean
17.9 17.1 15.8 16.9
17.0 16.2 14.6 16.0
15.0 14.5 13.6 14.3
16.6 15.9 14.7 14.1
IS = 0.9; FS = 0.9; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 1.0 68.8 66.6 62.4 65.9
66.5 64.8 61.5 64.3
58.5 54.7 49.5 54.2
64.6 62.1 57.8 56.3
IS = 2.6; FS = 2.6; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 2.8 1050.8 998.4 878.2 975.8
1017.9 954.0 864.8 945.6
839.0 789.8 718.5 782.4
969.2 914.1 820.5 765.1
IS = 57.7; FS = 57.7; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 60.2
Recommended dose of nutrients (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 ). Furrow irrigation and soil application of 100% RDF.
and their interaction. The variance was analyzed using Proc GLM (SAS software 9.3, SAS institute Ltd, USA) for both the years separately. The difference between means was compared with Fisher’s least significant difference test (LSD) at 5% probability level. Since, the trends in results were similar during both the years, the data was pooled, keeping years as main factor to increase the precision for irrigation and fertigation schedules. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Yield and yield attributes The data revealed that capitulum diameter, 1000-seed weight and number of seeds per capitulum were the highest in crop drip irrigated at 100% of ETc which were at par with 80% of ETc but significantly higher than that drip irrigated at 60% of ETc (Table 2). Seed yield was also at par between drip irrigation either at 100% of ETc or 80% of ETc but significantly better than 60% of ETc during both the years and in pooled data as well (Table 3). Drip irrigation at 100 and 80% of ETc resulted in 34.1 and 30.2% higher seed yield than drip irrigation at 60% of ETc, respectively, in pooled data. The higher seed yield realization in drip irrigation at 100 and 80% of ETc than
60% of ETc resulted from more quantity of irrigation water applied which closely match with water requirement of crop and avoid the moisture stress to the crop. Secondly, in 40% deficit irrigation (irrigation at 60% of ETc), crop suffers from moisture stress, hence, reduction in assimilates production and translocation, which is evident from significantly the lowest capitulum diameter, seeds per capitulum and 1000 seed weight (Table 2). Karam et al. (2007) also reported 25 and 14% less seed yield of sunflower from deficit irrigation at early and mid flowering stages than well irrigated treatment through drip under semi arid climatic conditions of Lebanan. Sezen et al. (2011) reported 15% reduction in sunflower yield under partial root zone drying irrigation with 36% less irrigation water application as compared to full irrigation. However, drip irrigation at 75% of full irrigation registerd statistically at par seed yield with full irrigation. Among the fertigation schedules, fertigation with 100% of RDF resulted in the highest capitulum diameter, 1000-seed weight and number of seeds per capitulum which were at par with 80% of RDF but significantly better than 60% of RDF. However, seed yield was significantly higher in crop raised with 100% of RDF than 80 or 60% of RDF (Table 3). The interaction between drip irrigation schedule and fertigation schedule was found to be non significant, but all the combinations
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Table 3 Effect of irrigation and fertigation schedules on seed yield of sunflower during 2014, 2015 and in pooled mean of both years. Fertigation schedule (FS)
2014 100% RDFa 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute controlb LSD (p = 0.05) 2015 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean
Irrigation schedule (IS)
Absolute control
100% ETc
80% ETc
60% ETc
Mean
28.5 26.1 23.1 25.9
27.0 25.2 22.3 24.8
19.5 17.0 15.4 17.3
25.0 22.8 20.3 17.6
IS = 2.3; FS = 2.3; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 2.9 32.0 28.4 27.0 29.1
29.9 29.0 26.7 28.5
Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05) Pooled mean of 2014 and 2015 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean
30.2 27.3 25.1 27.5
Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05)
IS = 1.6; FS = 1.6; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 1.7
a b
26.1 24.6 20.6 23.8
29.3 27.3 24.8 24.2
IS = 2.4; FS = 2.4; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 3.1 28.4 27.1 24.5 26.7
22.8 20.8 18.0 20.5
27.2 25.1 22.5 20.9
Recommended dose of nutrients (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 ). Furrow irrigation and soil application of 100% RDF.
Table 4 Effect of irrigation and fertigation schedules on, oil content, oil yield irrigation water applied, ETc and apparent water productivity of sunflower (pooled mean of 2 years). Fertigation schedule (FS)
Oil content (%) 100% RDFa 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute controlb LSD (p = 0.05) Oil yield (litre/ha) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05) Irrigation water applied (mm) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control Apparent water productivity (kg/m3 ) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05) a b c
Irrigation schedule (IS)
Absolute control
100% ETc
80% ETc
60% ETc
Mean
34.8 36.2 38.0 36.3
36.2 37.5 38.6 37.4
37.4 38.2 39.4 38.3
36.1 37.3 38.7 38.0
IS = NS; FS = NS; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = NS 1046.0 983.3 946.5 991.9
1027.0 1017.8 946.5 997.1
855.3 795.8 708.2 786.4
976.1 932.3 867.1 795.0
IS = 35.4; FS = 35.4; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 40.5 37.9 37.9 37.9 37.9 (504.2)
33.0 33.0 33.0 33.0 (403.4)
28.1 28.1 28.1 28.1 (302.5)
33.0 33.0 33.0 49.5 (567.0)c
0.809 0.729 0.671 0.736
0.872 0.832 0.752 0.819
0.823 0.754 0.649 0.742
0.835 0.772 0.691 0.422
IS = 0.048; FS = 0.048; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 0.049
Recommended dose of nutrients (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 ). Furrow irrigation and soil application of 100% RDF. ETc (mm).
of drip irrigation and fertigation schedules produced significantly higher seed yield and yield attributes than absolute control (furrow irrigated and soil application of RDF) except drip irrigation at 60% and 80% of ETc with 60% RDF (Tables 2 and 3). Seed yield was 44.5 and 29.7% higher in drip irrigation at 100% of ETc with 100% fertigation of RDF and drip irrigation at 80% of ETc with 80% ferti-
gation than absolute control, respectively, in pooled data (Table 3). The higher seed yield realization in combinations of drip irrigation and fertigation schedules resulted from good crop growth owing to greater and consistent availability of soil moisture and nutrients which resulted in higher yield components and ultimately the seed yield. Qureshi et al. (2015) observed 26% increase in seed yield
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Table 5 Economics analysis of sunflower under different irrigation and fertigation schedules (mean of 2 years). Fertigation schedule (FS)
Gross returns ($/ha) 100% RDFa 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute controlb Net returns ($/ha) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control Benefit: cost 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control a b
Irrigation schedule (IS)
Absolute control
100% ETc
80% ETc
60% ETc
Mean
1681.7 1516.8 1393.4 1530.6
1582.1 1508.0 1361.8 1484.0
1268.6 1159.1 1000.6 1142.8
1510.8 1394.6 1251.9 1162.3
1080.9 930.4 821.5 944.3
981.8 922.2 790.5 898.2
669.0 573.9 429.9 557.6
910.6 808.8 680.6 680.7
1.80 1.59 1.44 1.61
1.64 1.57 1.38 1.53
1.12 0.98 0.75 0.95
1.52 1.38 1.19 1.41
−1
Recommended dose of nutrients (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha Furrow irrigation and soil application of 100% RDF.
).
Table 6 Energy analysis of sunflower under different irrigation and fertigation schedules (mean of 2 years). Fertigation schedule (FS)
Energy input (000 MJ/ha) 100% RDFa 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute controlb Energy output (000 MJ/ha) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control Energy use efficiency 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean
Irrigation schedule (IS) 80% ETc
60% ETc
Mean
8.83 7.79 6.75 7.79
8.53 7.48 6.44 7.48
8.22 7.18 6.14 7.18
8.53 7.48 6.44 9.59
75.6 68.2 62.6 68.8
b
71.1 67.8 61.2 66.7
57.0 52.1 45.0 51.4
67.9 62.7 56.3 52.2
8.56 8.75 9.28 8.86
Absolute control Energy productivity (g seed/MJ energy used) 342.3 100% RDF 350.0 80% RDF 371.1 60% RDF Mean 354.5 Absolute control a
Absolute control
100% ETc
8.34 9.06 9.50 8.97
6.93 7.25 7.33 7.17
7.94 8.35 8.70 5.44
333.6 362.2 379.9 358.6
277.4 290.0 293.0 286.8
317.8 334.1 348.0 217.7
Recommended dose of nutrients (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 ). Furrow irrigation and soil application of 100% RDF.
of sunflower in drip irrigation than furrow irrigation because of precise irrigation management that produced radial distribution pattern and effective utilization of nutrients fertigation in the wetted soil volume where most of the roots are concentrated near the emitters. Oil content in sunflower seeds did not show any significant effect with all the irrigation and fertigation schedules, thus oil yield also followed the similar trend as that in seed yield for all the factors under study (Table 4).
3.2. Apparent water productivity (AWP) AWP is a basic index to assess the performance of irrigation schedules with each drop of water application. AWP depicts the returns from each drop of irrigation water application under different methods and schedules of irrigation. The results showed that the highest AWP of 0.819 kg sunflower seeds m−3 of irrigation water application from drip irrigation at 80% of ETc which was significantly better than drip irrigation at 100 or 60% of ETc (Table 4).
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The lowest returns from each unit of water application in 100% of ETc schedule resulted from more quantity of water application in each irrigation than 80% of ETc schedule. However, in case of drip irrigation at 60% ETc crop suffered from water stress because of under dose of water application which ultimately reduces the seed yield. Thus, drip irrigation at 80% of ETc is an optimum schedule for harvesting of solar energy and producing the highest crop productivity. Among the fertigation schedules, AWP was the highest in 100% of RDF which was significantly higher than 80 and 60% of RDF. The 8.2 and 20.8% higher AWP in 100% RDF schedule than 80 and 60% RDF resulted from significantly higher seed yield because quantity of water applied in each fertigation schedule remained the same. The AWP was the highest (0.872 kg m−3 ) from drip irrigation at 80% of ETc with fertigation of 100% RDF which was 106.6% higher than absolute control (Table 4).The highest AWP in 80% of ETc and 100% RDF combination resulted from 33.3% less irrigation water application and 35.9% higher seed yield than absolute control. 3.3. Economics and energy analysis Gross returns, net returns and benefit: cost (B: C) was maximum in drip irrigation at 100% of ETc and followed by drip irrigation at 80% and 60% of ETc (Table 5). Net returns were 386.7 and 340.6 $.ha−1 higher from crop irrigated at 100% and 80% of ETc than 60% of ETc, respectively. Similarly, fertigation with 100% RDF registered maximum gross return and net returns, which were 116.2 & 258.9 and 101.8 & 230.0 $ ha−1 higher than fertigation with 80% and 60% of RDF, respectively, irrespective of drip irrigation schedules. Among the combinations of irrigation and fertigation schedules, drip irrigation at 100 of ETc with 100% RDF registered maximum gross returns, net returns and B: C, which was 44.7, 58.8 and 27.7% higher than absolute control, respectively. It is worth to mentioned here that gross and net returns were higher from all the combinations of drip irrigation and fertigation than absolute control except the lowest level of irrigation application at 60% ETc with 80% or 60% RDF. Drip and fertigation is more economically viable option than furrow irrigation and soil application of fertilizers in sunflower crop. Energy use efficiency and energy productivity were the highest from drip irrigation at 80% of ETc, both were 1.2 and 25.1% higher in 80% of ETc than 100 and 60% of ETc, respectively (Table 6). However, Energy use efficiency and energy productivity increased successively with decrease in RDF from 100 to 60% and maximum values were recorded with 60% of RDF because of less energy input. Among the combinations of irrigation and fertigation schedules, drip irrigation at 80 of ETc with 60% RDF registered maximum energy use efficiency and energy productivity (9.50 and 379.9 g seed MJ−1 energy use), because of higher energy output and less energy input than other combinations. The lowest energy use efficiency and energy productivity was recorded from absolute control. 4. Conclusion Drip irrigation either at 100% of ETc or 80% ETc with 100% of RDF or 80% of RDF produced significantly higher seed yield, net returns
and energy productivity than absolute control. The apparent water and energy productivity of drip irrigation at 80% ETc was found to be superior over 60 or 100% of ETc. Drip irrigation at 80% ETc with 100% or 80% of RDF is found as a water and energy efficient schedule with saving of 33.3% applied irrigation water than absolute control. However, net returns and B: C were higher in 100% ETc with 100% RDF than all other combinations. Thus, all the combinations of drip irrigation and fertigation are more economically viable, water and energy efficient than absolute control (furrow irrigation and soil application of RDF) except the lowest level of irrigation application at 60% ETc with 80% or 60% RDF. References Anonymous, 2014. Area and production of sunflower in India. http://www. indiastat.com. Anonymous, 2015. Package of practices for rabi crops. Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, pp 58. Anonymous, 2016. Edible oil import by India during November, 2014 to October, 2015. http://www.seaofindia.com/stats. Brar, S.K., Mahal, S.S., Brar, A.S., Vashist, K.K., Neerja Sharma Buttar, G.S., 2012. Transplanting time and seedling age affect water productivity, rice yield and quality in north- west India. Agric. Water Manage. 115, 217–222. Caldinin, D.R., 1958. In: Attschul, A.M. (Ed.), Sunflower Seed Oil Meal, Processed Plant Protein Food Stuffs. Academic Press, New York, pp. 557–575. Demircan, V., Ekinci, K., Keener, M.H., Akbolat, D., Ekinci, C., 2006. Energy and economic analysis of sweet cherry production in Turkey: a case study from Isparata province. Energy Convers. Manage. 47, 1761–1769. El-Hendawy, S.E., El-Lattief, E.A., Ahmed, A.S., Schmidhalter, U., 2008. Irrigation rate and plant density effects on yield and water use efficiency of drip irrigated corn. Agric. Water Manage. 95, 836–844. Karam, F., Lahoud, R., Masaad, R., Kabalan, R., Breidi, J., Chalita, C., Rouphael, Y., 2007. Evapotranspiration, seed yield and water use efficiency of drip irrigated sunflower under full and deficit irrigation conditions. Agric. Water Manage. 90, 213–223. Kaur, Amandeep, Brar, A.S., 2016. Influence of mulching and irrigation scheduling on productivity and water use of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) in north-western India. Irrig. Sci. 34, 261–269. Kleingartner, L., 1997. The world oilseed environment. (In) Sunflower Technology and Production. A.A. Schneiter (Ed.) Agro. Monograph. 35: 809-824. Panesar, B.S., Bhatnagar, A.P., 1994. Energy norms for inputs and outputs of agricultural sector. In: In: Energy Management and Conservation in Agricultural Production and Food Processing. USG Publisher & Distributors, Ludhiana, India, pp. 5–16. Qureshi, A.L., Gadehi, M.A., Mahessar, A.A., Memon, N.A., Soomro, A.G., Memon, A.H., 2015. Effect of drip and furrow irrigation systems on sunflower yield and water use efficiency in dry area of Pakistan. Am.-Eurasian J. Agric. Environ. Sci. 15, 1947–1952. Ramah, K., 2008. Study on Drip Fertigation in Maize Based Cropping System. Ph D Dissertation. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. Sezen, S.M., Yazar, A., Kapur, B., Tekin, S., 2011. Comparison of drip and sprinkler irrigation strategies on sunflower seed and oil yield and quality under Mediterranean climate conditions. Agric. Water Manage. 98, 1153–1161. Sharma, A., Chahal, G., 2016. Agricultural Hand Book. Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, pp. p. 4. Yaldiz, O., Ozturk, H.H., Zeren, Y., Bascetincelik, A., 1993. Energy use in field crops of Turkey. In: V International Congress of Agricultural Machinery and Energy, 12–14 October Kusadasi-Turkey in Turkish.
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Drip irrigation and fertigation improve economics, water and energy productivity of spring sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in Indian Punjab Indu Sinha, G.S. Buttar, A.S. Brar ∗ Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 2 September 2016 Received in revised form 4 February 2017 Accepted 8 February 2017 Keywords: Sunflower productivity Economics Apparent water productivity Drip irrigation and fertigation schedules
a b s t r a c t A field experiment was conducted to find out water and energy efficient irrigation and fertigation schedule for higher profitability from spring sunflower during 2014 and 2015. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design keeping combinations of three drip irrigation {(100, 80 and 60% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc)} and three fertigation schedules {(100, 80 and 60% of recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) i.e. 60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 )} with an extra absolute control treatment (furrow irrigation and manual application of RDF). The seed yield of sunflower was statistically at par between drip irrigation at 100 and 80% ETc but significantly better than 60% of ETc. However, apparent water productivity (AWP) and energy productivity was higher in drip at 80% ETc than 100 or 60% ETc. The crop drip irrigated at 80% ETc produced 397 g more seed yield with each cubic metre of irrigation water applied at yield advance and water saving of 27.8 and 33.3% than absolute control, respectively. Among the fertigation schedules, seed yield, oil yield and AWP were significantly higher from 100% RDF than 80 or 60% RDF and similar trend was observed for net returns and energetics. Drip irrigation either at 100% of ETc or 80% ETc with 100% of RDF or 80% of RDF produced significantly higher seed yield, net returns and energy productivity than absolute control. Thus, drip irrigation at 80% of ETc with 80% of RDF is more economically viable with higher water and energy productivity than absolute control. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction India needs to produce 17.8 million tonnes of edible oil for nutritional requirement of projected population of 1685 million by 2050 and this target is very difficult to achieve with the current production technology. India has imported 14.42 million tonnes of edible oil during 2014–15, which is a big drain on foreign exchange pool of the country (Anon, 2016). Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) belongs to family compositae (Asteracae) and is a native of North America and grown for edible oil. In India, sunflower was grown on 0.52 million hectares with a production of 0.304 million tonnes at productivity level of 729 kg ha−1 (Anon, 2014). In Punjab, sunflower was grown on 10,700 ha with production and productivity of 18,700 t and 1743 kg ha−1 , respectively (Anon, 2015).
∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141 004, India. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.S. Brar). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2017.02.008 0378-3774/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Sunflower seeds have high content of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as vitamin E (Kleingartner, 1997). Sunflower oil is considered as premium oil due to its light colour, bland flavor, high smoke point (252–255 ◦ F), good nutritional quality with oleic acid content of 42–57% and linoleic acid 33–48%. High proportion of essential fatty acids in sunflower oil reduces blood cholesterol in human being. Oleic acid present in sunflower seed is useful in cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Sunflower oil is considered as a rich source of the first two B complex vitamins than any other oilseed (Caldinin, 1958). Rice-wheat is the predominant cropping system of Punjab and the state contributed 24.2% and 36.8% rice and wheat to central pool of the country during 2014–15, respectively (Sharma and Chahal, 2016). But monoculture of this cropping system on large scale led to degradation of natural resources and water table is declining at an alarming rate of 0.4–0.9 m/annum (Brar et al., 2012). Thus, there is an urgent need to replace rice from this cropping system with some low water requiring crops. Sunflower offers good opportunity for diversification of cereal based cropping system of the state as this crop fits well in multiple cropping systems like maize −potato-
I. Sinha et al. / Agricultural Water Management 185 (2017) 58–64
sunflower and can enhance the profitability of the farmers. In these cropping system, sunflower is planted during spring season from end of January to first week of February and remains in field up to first fortnight of May. The high evaporative demand of spring season makes its water requirement quite high despite a short duration crop. The yield of sunflower is greatly influenced by fertilizer and irrigation practices and therefore, potential yield can be achieved by adopting optimum fertigation and irrigation scheduling. Maintenance of adequate moisture in soil profile through irrigation is an important pre-requisite to reap the rich harvest of sunflower crop because rainfall is very scanty during spring season in north India. Optimum moisture also plays an important role in ripening and synchronous maturity of heads as it exhibits the hydro positive features. So, efficient method of irrigation for the sunflower crop not only saves water, but also realizes higher yield. Hence it becomes, imperative to investigate the different methods of irrigation to realize more production per unit of water through efficient utilization of available water resources. Border method of irrigation is generally practiced because of convenience which leads to significant wastage of irrigation water. Borders are usually long, uniformly graded strips of land, separated by earth bunds and flood irrigation is applied. Therefore, development of irrigation technique which ensures large coverage of area with a given quantity of water without any adverse effect on yield is need of the hour. Drip irrigation is a very efficient method, which reduces water requirement by reducing the application losses, reduces weed growth and providing the water and nutrient beneath the root zone of the plant (Kaur and Brar, 2016). So, under water scarcity conditions productivity of a crop can be improved significantly through drip irrigation by decreasing the leaching and evaporation loses (El-Hendawy et al., 2008). Ramah (2008) reported water saving of 12–84% through drip irrigation over flood in different crops coupled with increased productivity. No research work has so far been done to study the combined effect of drip irrigation and fertigation in sunflower under north-western Indian conditions. Hence, the present study was planned, to find out the water and energy efficient irrigation and fertigation schedule for higher profitability from spring sunflower.
2. Materials and methods 2.1. Weather and climate An experiment was conducted at Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during spring seasons of 2014 and 2015. The experimental site is situated at an altitude of 247 m above mean sea level with latitude of 30◦ 56 N and longitude of 75◦ 48 E. This area represents central plain region of state in trans-gangetic plain agro climatic zone of India. The climate of the region is characterized as sub-tropical to semi-arid with hot and dry summer (April to June), hot and humid monsoon (July to September), mild winter (October to November) and cold winter from December to February. Considerable fluctuations in mean minimum and maximum temperatures are experienced during summer and winter. Maximum air temperature of >38 ◦ C experienced during summer and frequent frosty spells are recorded during December-January. The average annual rainfall lies between 500 and 750 mm and 75% of which is received during summer monsoon (July to September) with a few showers during winter season. Almost similar weather conditions were experienced during 2014 and 2015 crop seasons. Total amount of rainfall recorded during cropping season of 2014 and 2015 were 118.5 mm and 158.4 mm, respectively. The mean weekly temperature remained between 12.5–31.4 ◦ C and 12.9–32.1 ◦ C and relative humidity
59
ranged between 36 and 79% and 36–86% during 2014 and 2015, respectively. The reference ET (calculated according to FAO irrigation and drainage bulletin number 56) calculated in the range of 1.4–7.1 mm day−1 during 2014 and 1.5–6.9 mm day−1 during 2015. 2.2. Soil and methodology The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design, keeping combinations of three irrigation (100% ETc, 80% ETc and 60% ETc) and three fertigation schedule (100% RDF, 80% RDF and 60% RDF) through drip with an extra absolute control (recommended furrow irrigation with basal and top dressing of RDF) and all the treatments repeated three times (Fig. 1). The soil of the experimental site was sandy loam in texture, normal in reaction (pH 7.34), low in organic carbon (0.33%) and available nitrogen (188.1 kg ha−1 ) medium in available phosphorous (13.7 kg ha−1 ) and high in available potassium (324.9 kg ha−1 ). 1/5th fertilizer dose of recommended N and P (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 ) was applied at sowing and remaining 4/5th dose was applied through fertigation as per treatment, starting one month after sowing and completed within 45 days. Urea and ortho-phosphoric acid were the source of N and P2 O5 for fertigation plots, while urea and single super phosphorous were used as source of N and P2 O5 in absolute control, respectively. Half dose of nitrogen and full dose of P2 O5 were applied at sowing and remaining half N after first irrigation (one month after sowing). A heavy pre-sowing irrigation (75 mm depth) was given to entire experimental area before seed bed preparation to ensure adequate moisture in the soil profile. Sunflower crop was planted on February 4, 2014 and February 5, 2015 using 5 kg seed ha−1 on southern side of east-west ridges at spacing of 60 cm. The sowing was done by dibbling two seeds per hill maintaining plant to plant spacing of 30 cm. To check on weeds Stomp (pendimethaline 30 EC) at 2500 ml ha−1 was applied next day of sowing and no hand weeding was done during both the years. The crop was harvested when heads turned brown at lower surface and the stalk starts drying. The harvested heads from net plot size of 8.10 m2 (1.8 m × 4.5 m) were dried and then thrashed manually. Oil content in seeds was determined with Soxhlet ethanol extraction method and oil yield was worked out by multiplying the seed yield with oil content. In absolute control, first irrigation was applied one month after sowing and thereafter irrigation was applied at two week interval up to end of March and at 8–10 days interval during April-May keeping 6 cm depth of irrigation. Irrigation was applied at three days interval through drip and depth of irrigation was kept equal to sum of three days crop evapotranspiration (ETc) as per treatment. Daily reference ET (ETo) was calculated with the help of ETo calculator available on website of FAO using location specific daily meteorological data (Minimum temperature, maximum temperature, mean temperature, maximum relative humidity, minimum relative humidity, mean relative humidity, sunshine hours and wind speed). Then daily ETc was worked out by multiplying the daily ETo value with crop coefficient of 1.0 up to end of March and 1.5 thereafter. The crop coefficient values (1.0–1.5) were taken from FAO 56 paper. Drip irrigation was applied to each plot with a lateral pipe having dripper discharge of 4.0 lph and dripper placed at 30 cm apart. A water meter was installed on PVC pipe used for irrigation to drip as well as furrow irrigated plots to compute irrigation water applied. Total irrigation water applied during whole crop growing season was calculated by cumulating the irrigation water applied. In furrow irrigation absolute control plots, ETc was calculated by total soil moisture removal from 0 to 180 cm soil profile before and after irrigation using water balance equation. ETc = Re + I + S − D + Fxdt
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I. Sinha et al. / Agricultural Water Management 185 (2017) 58–64
Fig. 1. Lay out plan of the experiment.
Where, ETc is the crop evapotranspiration (mm day−1 ), Re is the effective rainfall (mm), I is irrigation (mm), S is change in soil moisture storage (mm), Fx is the vertical flux (mm day−1 ) and dt is the time duration. Since the water table depth of the experimental site was deep (>3.5 m), the upward flux was negligible, drainage was also absent because the amount of irrigation water was only sufficient to bring the water deficit to field capacity. Change in soil moisture, S, in the profile for particular irrigation interval was determined using following relationship; S =
(M2 − M1) × d × d1 100
M 1 and M 2 are the percentage of soil moisture recorded on dry weight basis before and after irrigation; d is the bulk density (g cm−3 ); d1 is the depth of sampling (mm). The dry weight basis soil moisture was measured through gravimetric method up to 180 cm soil profile. Apparent water productivity (AWP) as reported in literature (Brar et al., 2012) was estimated with respect to applied irrigation water for sunflower seed yield. AWP (kg m−3 ) = Seed yield of sunflower (kg ha−1 /Irrigation water applied (m3 ha−1 ))
2.3. Energy and economic analysis The total energy used in one hectare was calculated by addition of the partial energies of human labour, diesel and petrol fuel, machinery, irrigation, chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals. To estimate the energy of inputs and agronomic practices (expressed in MJ/ha) the energy equivalents were used as mentioned in Table 1. The energy output of biomass, bio energy gained from economic product and by product was calculated using their energy equivalents (Table 1). The energy use efficiency and energy productivity were calculated using the formulae as reported by Demircan et al. (2006). Energy use efficiency = Energy output (MJ ha−1 )/Energy input (MJ ha−1 ) Energy productivity = Sunflower seed yield (q ha−1 )/Energy input (MJ ha−1 ) Net returns were calculated by deducting the variable cost from gross returns.
2.4. Statistical analysis Analysis of variance was performed to see the influence of irrigation and fertigation schedules on various parameters of sunflower
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Table 1 Energy equivalents of different inputs and agronomic practices. Energy sources
Units
Energy equivalents (MJ)
Reference
Human Machinery (a) Tractor (b) Farm Machinery Diesel (including cost of lubricants) Petrol (including cost of lubricants) Fertilizers (a) N (b) P2 O5 (c) K2 O Herbicides Insecticides Fungicides Oil seeds Irrigation water
Hrs
1.96
Panesar and Bhatnagar (1994)
Hrs Hrs L L
64.80 62.70 56.31 48.23
kg kg kg kg kg kg kg m3
60.6 11.1 6.7 120
25.0 0.63
Yaldiz et al. (1993)
Table 2 Effect of irrigation and fertigation schedules on yield attributes of sunflower (pooled mean of 2 years). Fertigation schedule (FS)
Capitulum diameter (cm) 100% RDFa 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute controlb LSD (p = 0.05) 1000-seed weight (g) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05) Seeds/capitulum (no.) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05) a b
Irrigation schedule (IS)
Absolute control
100% ETc
80% ETc
60% ETc
Mean
17.9 17.1 15.8 16.9
17.0 16.2 14.6 16.0
15.0 14.5 13.6 14.3
16.6 15.9 14.7 14.1
IS = 0.9; FS = 0.9; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 1.0 68.8 66.6 62.4 65.9
66.5 64.8 61.5 64.3
58.5 54.7 49.5 54.2
64.6 62.1 57.8 56.3
IS = 2.6; FS = 2.6; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 2.8 1050.8 998.4 878.2 975.8
1017.9 954.0 864.8 945.6
839.0 789.8 718.5 782.4
969.2 914.1 820.5 765.1
IS = 57.7; FS = 57.7; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 60.2
Recommended dose of nutrients (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 ). Furrow irrigation and soil application of 100% RDF.
and their interaction. The variance was analyzed using Proc GLM (SAS software 9.3, SAS institute Ltd, USA) for both the years separately. The difference between means was compared with Fisher’s least significant difference test (LSD) at 5% probability level. Since, the trends in results were similar during both the years, the data was pooled, keeping years as main factor to increase the precision for irrigation and fertigation schedules. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Yield and yield attributes The data revealed that capitulum diameter, 1000-seed weight and number of seeds per capitulum were the highest in crop drip irrigated at 100% of ETc which were at par with 80% of ETc but significantly higher than that drip irrigated at 60% of ETc (Table 2). Seed yield was also at par between drip irrigation either at 100% of ETc or 80% of ETc but significantly better than 60% of ETc during both the years and in pooled data as well (Table 3). Drip irrigation at 100 and 80% of ETc resulted in 34.1 and 30.2% higher seed yield than drip irrigation at 60% of ETc, respectively, in pooled data. The higher seed yield realization in drip irrigation at 100 and 80% of ETc than
60% of ETc resulted from more quantity of irrigation water applied which closely match with water requirement of crop and avoid the moisture stress to the crop. Secondly, in 40% deficit irrigation (irrigation at 60% of ETc), crop suffers from moisture stress, hence, reduction in assimilates production and translocation, which is evident from significantly the lowest capitulum diameter, seeds per capitulum and 1000 seed weight (Table 2). Karam et al. (2007) also reported 25 and 14% less seed yield of sunflower from deficit irrigation at early and mid flowering stages than well irrigated treatment through drip under semi arid climatic conditions of Lebanan. Sezen et al. (2011) reported 15% reduction in sunflower yield under partial root zone drying irrigation with 36% less irrigation water application as compared to full irrigation. However, drip irrigation at 75% of full irrigation registerd statistically at par seed yield with full irrigation. Among the fertigation schedules, fertigation with 100% of RDF resulted in the highest capitulum diameter, 1000-seed weight and number of seeds per capitulum which were at par with 80% of RDF but significantly better than 60% of RDF. However, seed yield was significantly higher in crop raised with 100% of RDF than 80 or 60% of RDF (Table 3). The interaction between drip irrigation schedule and fertigation schedule was found to be non significant, but all the combinations
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Table 3 Effect of irrigation and fertigation schedules on seed yield of sunflower during 2014, 2015 and in pooled mean of both years. Fertigation schedule (FS)
2014 100% RDFa 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute controlb LSD (p = 0.05) 2015 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean
Irrigation schedule (IS)
Absolute control
100% ETc
80% ETc
60% ETc
Mean
28.5 26.1 23.1 25.9
27.0 25.2 22.3 24.8
19.5 17.0 15.4 17.3
25.0 22.8 20.3 17.6
IS = 2.3; FS = 2.3; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 2.9 32.0 28.4 27.0 29.1
29.9 29.0 26.7 28.5
Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05) Pooled mean of 2014 and 2015 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean
30.2 27.3 25.1 27.5
Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05)
IS = 1.6; FS = 1.6; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 1.7
a b
26.1 24.6 20.6 23.8
29.3 27.3 24.8 24.2
IS = 2.4; FS = 2.4; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 3.1 28.4 27.1 24.5 26.7
22.8 20.8 18.0 20.5
27.2 25.1 22.5 20.9
Recommended dose of nutrients (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 ). Furrow irrigation and soil application of 100% RDF.
Table 4 Effect of irrigation and fertigation schedules on, oil content, oil yield irrigation water applied, ETc and apparent water productivity of sunflower (pooled mean of 2 years). Fertigation schedule (FS)
Oil content (%) 100% RDFa 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute controlb LSD (p = 0.05) Oil yield (litre/ha) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05) Irrigation water applied (mm) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control Apparent water productivity (kg/m3 ) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control LSD (p = 0.05) a b c
Irrigation schedule (IS)
Absolute control
100% ETc
80% ETc
60% ETc
Mean
34.8 36.2 38.0 36.3
36.2 37.5 38.6 37.4
37.4 38.2 39.4 38.3
36.1 37.3 38.7 38.0
IS = NS; FS = NS; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = NS 1046.0 983.3 946.5 991.9
1027.0 1017.8 946.5 997.1
855.3 795.8 708.2 786.4
976.1 932.3 867.1 795.0
IS = 35.4; FS = 35.4; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 40.5 37.9 37.9 37.9 37.9 (504.2)
33.0 33.0 33.0 33.0 (403.4)
28.1 28.1 28.1 28.1 (302.5)
33.0 33.0 33.0 49.5 (567.0)c
0.809 0.729 0.671 0.736
0.872 0.832 0.752 0.819
0.823 0.754 0.649 0.742
0.835 0.772 0.691 0.422
IS = 0.048; FS = 0.048; IS × FS = NS; IS × FS v/s Control = 0.049
Recommended dose of nutrients (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 ). Furrow irrigation and soil application of 100% RDF. ETc (mm).
of drip irrigation and fertigation schedules produced significantly higher seed yield and yield attributes than absolute control (furrow irrigated and soil application of RDF) except drip irrigation at 60% and 80% of ETc with 60% RDF (Tables 2 and 3). Seed yield was 44.5 and 29.7% higher in drip irrigation at 100% of ETc with 100% fertigation of RDF and drip irrigation at 80% of ETc with 80% ferti-
gation than absolute control, respectively, in pooled data (Table 3). The higher seed yield realization in combinations of drip irrigation and fertigation schedules resulted from good crop growth owing to greater and consistent availability of soil moisture and nutrients which resulted in higher yield components and ultimately the seed yield. Qureshi et al. (2015) observed 26% increase in seed yield
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Table 5 Economics analysis of sunflower under different irrigation and fertigation schedules (mean of 2 years). Fertigation schedule (FS)
Gross returns ($/ha) 100% RDFa 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute controlb Net returns ($/ha) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control Benefit: cost 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control a b
Irrigation schedule (IS)
Absolute control
100% ETc
80% ETc
60% ETc
Mean
1681.7 1516.8 1393.4 1530.6
1582.1 1508.0 1361.8 1484.0
1268.6 1159.1 1000.6 1142.8
1510.8 1394.6 1251.9 1162.3
1080.9 930.4 821.5 944.3
981.8 922.2 790.5 898.2
669.0 573.9 429.9 557.6
910.6 808.8 680.6 680.7
1.80 1.59 1.44 1.61
1.64 1.57 1.38 1.53
1.12 0.98 0.75 0.95
1.52 1.38 1.19 1.41
−1
Recommended dose of nutrients (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha Furrow irrigation and soil application of 100% RDF.
).
Table 6 Energy analysis of sunflower under different irrigation and fertigation schedules (mean of 2 years). Fertigation schedule (FS)
Energy input (000 MJ/ha) 100% RDFa 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute controlb Energy output (000 MJ/ha) 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean Absolute control Energy use efficiency 100% RDF 80% RDF 60% RDF Mean
Irrigation schedule (IS) 80% ETc
60% ETc
Mean
8.83 7.79 6.75 7.79
8.53 7.48 6.44 7.48
8.22 7.18 6.14 7.18
8.53 7.48 6.44 9.59
75.6 68.2 62.6 68.8
b
71.1 67.8 61.2 66.7
57.0 52.1 45.0 51.4
67.9 62.7 56.3 52.2
8.56 8.75 9.28 8.86
Absolute control Energy productivity (g seed/MJ energy used) 342.3 100% RDF 350.0 80% RDF 371.1 60% RDF Mean 354.5 Absolute control a
Absolute control
100% ETc
8.34 9.06 9.50 8.97
6.93 7.25 7.33 7.17
7.94 8.35 8.70 5.44
333.6 362.2 379.9 358.6
277.4 290.0 293.0 286.8
317.8 334.1 348.0 217.7
Recommended dose of nutrients (60 kg N and 30 kg P2 O5 ha−1 ). Furrow irrigation and soil application of 100% RDF.
of sunflower in drip irrigation than furrow irrigation because of precise irrigation management that produced radial distribution pattern and effective utilization of nutrients fertigation in the wetted soil volume where most of the roots are concentrated near the emitters. Oil content in sunflower seeds did not show any significant effect with all the irrigation and fertigation schedules, thus oil yield also followed the similar trend as that in seed yield for all the factors under study (Table 4).
3.2. Apparent water productivity (AWP) AWP is a basic index to assess the performance of irrigation schedules with each drop of water application. AWP depicts the returns from each drop of irrigation water application under different methods and schedules of irrigation. The results showed that the highest AWP of 0.819 kg sunflower seeds m−3 of irrigation water application from drip irrigation at 80% of ETc which was significantly better than drip irrigation at 100 or 60% of ETc (Table 4).
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The lowest returns from each unit of water application in 100% of ETc schedule resulted from more quantity of water application in each irrigation than 80% of ETc schedule. However, in case of drip irrigation at 60% ETc crop suffered from water stress because of under dose of water application which ultimately reduces the seed yield. Thus, drip irrigation at 80% of ETc is an optimum schedule for harvesting of solar energy and producing the highest crop productivity. Among the fertigation schedules, AWP was the highest in 100% of RDF which was significantly higher than 80 and 60% of RDF. The 8.2 and 20.8% higher AWP in 100% RDF schedule than 80 and 60% RDF resulted from significantly higher seed yield because quantity of water applied in each fertigation schedule remained the same. The AWP was the highest (0.872 kg m−3 ) from drip irrigation at 80% of ETc with fertigation of 100% RDF which was 106.6% higher than absolute control (Table 4).The highest AWP in 80% of ETc and 100% RDF combination resulted from 33.3% less irrigation water application and 35.9% higher seed yield than absolute control. 3.3. Economics and energy analysis Gross returns, net returns and benefit: cost (B: C) was maximum in drip irrigation at 100% of ETc and followed by drip irrigation at 80% and 60% of ETc (Table 5). Net returns were 386.7 and 340.6 $.ha−1 higher from crop irrigated at 100% and 80% of ETc than 60% of ETc, respectively. Similarly, fertigation with 100% RDF registered maximum gross return and net returns, which were 116.2 & 258.9 and 101.8 & 230.0 $ ha−1 higher than fertigation with 80% and 60% of RDF, respectively, irrespective of drip irrigation schedules. Among the combinations of irrigation and fertigation schedules, drip irrigation at 100 of ETc with 100% RDF registered maximum gross returns, net returns and B: C, which was 44.7, 58.8 and 27.7% higher than absolute control, respectively. It is worth to mentioned here that gross and net returns were higher from all the combinations of drip irrigation and fertigation than absolute control except the lowest level of irrigation application at 60% ETc with 80% or 60% RDF. Drip and fertigation is more economically viable option than furrow irrigation and soil application of fertilizers in sunflower crop. Energy use efficiency and energy productivity were the highest from drip irrigation at 80% of ETc, both were 1.2 and 25.1% higher in 80% of ETc than 100 and 60% of ETc, respectively (Table 6). However, Energy use efficiency and energy productivity increased successively with decrease in RDF from 100 to 60% and maximum values were recorded with 60% of RDF because of less energy input. Among the combinations of irrigation and fertigation schedules, drip irrigation at 80 of ETc with 60% RDF registered maximum energy use efficiency and energy productivity (9.50 and 379.9 g seed MJ−1 energy use), because of higher energy output and less energy input than other combinations. The lowest energy use efficiency and energy productivity was recorded from absolute control. 4. Conclusion Drip irrigation either at 100% of ETc or 80% ETc with 100% of RDF or 80% of RDF produced significantly higher seed yield, net returns
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