Rainwater harvesting and supplemental irrigation for improved water productivity of wheat in Kandi region of Punjab

Moisture stress coupled with variable weather conditions is common phenomena in lower Shivaliks of Northern India, which result in higher dependence on supplemental irrigation. The present study was conducted in wheat crop under rainfed conditions in Talwara block of district Hoshiarpur, Punjab with three treatments, viz., T₁: No irrigation, T₂: Irrigation at crown root initiation (CRI) stage and T₃: Irrigation at CRI stage and at flowering stage. Significantly higher grain and straw yield (3485 kg ha⁻¹ and 6029 kg ha⁻¹) was observed in T₃ in comparison to T₂ (3260 kg ha⁻¹ and 5379 kg ha⁻¹) and T₁ (2820 kg ha⁻¹ and 4484 kg ha⁻¹). Net return was Rs 34,610 ha⁻¹, Rs 27,208 ha⁻¹ and Rs 17,826 ha⁻¹, whereas, B:C ratio was 2.63, 2.31 and 1.88 with respect to T₃, T₂ and T₁ treatments, respectively. Less heat use efficiency for water stress conditions was observed in T₁ (1.2 ha⁻¹ °C days) as compared to T₃ (1.4 ha⁻¹ °C days) and T₂ (1.3 ha⁻¹ °C days). Hence, it can be concluded that supplemental irrigation improved the grain yield and economic returns of rainfed wheat sown under limited irrigation.