Effect of Various Irrigation Levels and Row Spacings on Drilled Rabi (Foeniculum Vulgare) Fennel

A field experiment entitled “Response of drilled rabi fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) to irrigation schedule based on IW/CPE ratio and spacing” was carried out during rabi season of 2012–13 at the Instructional Farm, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh. The soil was clayey in texture, rich in organic carbon, medium in available nitrogen, P₂O₅ and K₂O with alkaline in reaction (pH 7.9). Total twelve treatment combinations, consisting of four irrigation schedule based on IW/CPE ratio (I₁=0.4, I₂=0.6, I₃=0.8 and I₄=1.0) and three row spacing (S₁= 30 x 15cm, S₂= 45 x 15cm and S₃= 60 x 15cm) were tested in a split plot design with three replications. The results indicated that scheduling irrigation at an IW/CPE ratio of 1.0 recorded significantly higher values of almost all the growth characters, yield attributes as well as seed and stover yields of fennel over 0.4 and 0.6 IW/CPE ratios and remained statistically at par with IW/CPE ratio of 0.8. Days to 50% flowering and maturity were delayed under this IW/CPE ratio. Soil moisture extraction from various soil depths and consumptive use of water observed maximum under IW/CPE ratio of 1.0. Whereas, higher WUE and WEE were obtained when crop was irrigated at 0.4IW/CPE ratio. Almost all the growth characters, yield attributes, seed and stover yields were found significantly higher when crop was sown at closer row spacing of 30 x 15cm than that over wider row spacing.