A study on available soil water during the growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum.L.) at New Delhi

Abstract

Agro-meteorological aspects of wheat (Triticum aestivum.L.) at New Delhi have been studied in this paper. A data set of six years during the crop growing season between 1985 to 1993 has been utilized. The growth period of wheat has been divided into six important growth stages i.e., crown root initiation, tillering, elongation, flowering, grain development and maturity. Water requirement of the crop during various stages of its growth, water use efficiency, crop coefficient and available soil water depletion in the root zone in relation to growth and yield of the crop have been discussed.
The study revealed that maximum water is consumed during the elongation stage, nearly 40%, followed by flowering and grain development stage. The crop-coefficient also attains high values (1.1 – 1.2) during elongation stage followed by flowering stage, compared to other growth stages. When available soil water in the root zone depleted by more than 50%, during the critical growth stages of the crop, the yield was adversely affected, upto 18% of the maximum yield.