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Simulation of soil water dynamics and Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) yield under different moisture conservation practices

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Title Simulation of soil water dynamics and Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) yield under different moisture conservation practices
Ph.D.
 
Creator SUMAN KUMAR
 
Contributor Susama Sudhishri
 
Subject irrigation, crops, yields, moisture conservation, soil water content, tillage, bunding, land resources, millets, planting
 
Description t-8975
Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) forms the staple diet of a majority of
the poor smallholders and poor consumers, in the rainfed regions of the country.
Limited availability of soil moisture at critical stages of crop growth is major constraint
of rainfed agriculture in semi-arid regions. In-situ moisture conservation practices
minimises loss of valuable top soil, increases water available for plant use, improves soil
physical properties and enhances soil fertility. In pursuit of understanding of soil
moisture dynamics under different bio-engineering in-situ moisture conservation
practices and its impact on pearl millet yield, an experiment was conducted in the during
kharif season (June – October) of 2013 at the Research Farm of Water Technology
Centre, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. The experiment was
laid out following randomized complete block design (RCBD) with six treatments and
three replications. These treatments were trench-cum-bund (20 cm depth of trench and
20 cm height of bund), bund (30 cm height), ridge and furrow (15 cm height), skip row
(3:1), basin tillage (45 cm x 45 cm) and control. For techno-economic feasibility study
of different bio-engineering in-situ moisture conservation practices, performance
parameters like soil moisture depth, soil water balance and moisture conservation
efficiency were estimated. Bio-physical performance parameters like leaf area index
(LAI), relative leaf water content (RLWC) and crop water stress index (CWSI) were
calculated to evaluate different in-situ moisture conservation practices. Basin tillage has
been found best in-situ moisture conservation practice among different practices with
moisture conservation efficiency (88.8%) moisture and ultimately with highest yield
(2.47 tons/ha) in pearl millet. Ridge and furrow also has higher moisture conservation
capacity than trench-cum-bund, bund and skip row. Highest harvest index (26.94%) and
highest benefit-cost ratio (1.82) in basin tillage poses potential utility under rainfed
condition for pearl millet production.
II
AquaCrop model (v4.0) was used to simulate both pearl millet grain yield and
total soil water that gave grain yield prediction when compared with validation data set
of 2012 and calibrated using the 2011 data set, resulted in absolute prediction error of
1.70%, 8.74&. 14.12%, 14.88%, 3.27% and 7.25% for BT, R&F, TCB, bunds, SR and
control, respectively. Similarly for the data set of 2013 the absolute prediction error of
4.45%, 3.72%, 9.27%, 6.53%, 8.14% and 21.05%, respectively were found. Prediction
error was more during the validation period may be due to less variation in grain yield
due to high rainfall compared to 2011 and 2012. Absolute prediction error of 37.63,
14.06, 9.91, 5.61, 19.19 and 37.05 % for BT, R&F, TCB, bunds, SR and control,
respectively, when simulated for stover yield. Similarly for the data set of 2013 the
absolute prediction error of 22.16, 3.86, 20, 22.7, 43.03 and 1.86%, respectively were
found. Similar observations were found for soil moisture simulation. However the model
did not predicting stover yield satisfactorily. The model is predicting satisfactorily
during less rainfall year of
 
Date 2016-04-30T11:57:02Z
2016-04-30T11:57:02Z
2013
 
Type Thesis
 
Identifier http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/65682
 
Format application/pdf