TY - JOUR
T1 - Water Depletion Pattern and Water Use Efficiency of Forage Sorghum, Pearl millet, and Corn Under Water Limiting Condition
AU - Bhattarai, Bishwoyog
AU - Singh, Sukhbir
AU - West, Charles P.
AU - Ritchie, Glen L.
AU - Trostle, Calvin L.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the major funding from the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District and partial funding from the Ogallala Aquifer Program . We would also like to acknowledge the necessary support from the Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University. Technical assistance from Paul Green, Jasmine Neupane, Ved Prakash, Azeezahmed Shaik, Manpreet Singh, and Furnell Forman is also much appreciated.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/8/1
Y1 - 2020/8/1
N2 - In the semi-arid Texas High Plains, declining irrigation water supply hinders the profitable corn (Zea mays L.) silage production, the principle feed ingredient of the beef and dairy industries. Drought-tolerant and deep-rooting crops like forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) could be an alternative to corn silage under limiting irrigation. A field study was conducted during 2018 and 2019 at New Deal, TX to assess soil water depletion patterns, water use efficiency (WUE), and silage yield of forage sorghum, pearl millet, and corn under limited irrigation. The experiment was conducted in split-plot design with three irrigation levels [I0 (55 and 29 mm), I1 (172 and 147 mm), and I2 (323 and 260 mm) in 2018 and 2019, respectively] as main-plots and five cultivars [P1498AM (corn), AF7401 and Silo700D (BMR sorghum), and Epic and Exceed (BMR pearl millet)] as sub-plots with three replications. The soil water depletion amount was greater in I0 (105 and 57 mm) followed by I1 (60 and 37 mm) and I2 (44 and 13 mm) in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Fresh biomass yield was the greatest in I2 followed by I1 and I0; however, the highest WUE was achieved in I0 and I2 in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Water depletion depth was greater for sorghum and pearl millet plots (0–1 m) than corn plots (0–0.6 m) which resulted in greater water depletion amount in sorghum (75 and 31 mm) and pearl millet (68 and 48 mm) plots than corn (67 and 28 mm) during 2018 and 2019, respectively. Average yield and WUE were the highest in sorghum cultivars, followed by pearl millet and corn. Results confirmed that the higher silage yield and WUE can be achieved by sorghum compared to pearl millet and corn under limited irrigation conditions.
AB - In the semi-arid Texas High Plains, declining irrigation water supply hinders the profitable corn (Zea mays L.) silage production, the principle feed ingredient of the beef and dairy industries. Drought-tolerant and deep-rooting crops like forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) could be an alternative to corn silage under limiting irrigation. A field study was conducted during 2018 and 2019 at New Deal, TX to assess soil water depletion patterns, water use efficiency (WUE), and silage yield of forage sorghum, pearl millet, and corn under limited irrigation. The experiment was conducted in split-plot design with three irrigation levels [I0 (55 and 29 mm), I1 (172 and 147 mm), and I2 (323 and 260 mm) in 2018 and 2019, respectively] as main-plots and five cultivars [P1498AM (corn), AF7401 and Silo700D (BMR sorghum), and Epic and Exceed (BMR pearl millet)] as sub-plots with three replications. The soil water depletion amount was greater in I0 (105 and 57 mm) followed by I1 (60 and 37 mm) and I2 (44 and 13 mm) in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Fresh biomass yield was the greatest in I2 followed by I1 and I0; however, the highest WUE was achieved in I0 and I2 in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Water depletion depth was greater for sorghum and pearl millet plots (0–1 m) than corn plots (0–0.6 m) which resulted in greater water depletion amount in sorghum (75 and 31 mm) and pearl millet (68 and 48 mm) plots than corn (67 and 28 mm) during 2018 and 2019, respectively. Average yield and WUE were the highest in sorghum cultivars, followed by pearl millet and corn. Results confirmed that the higher silage yield and WUE can be achieved by sorghum compared to pearl millet and corn under limited irrigation conditions.
KW - Deficit irrigation
KW - Evapotranspiration
KW - Semi-arid
KW - Silage crop
KW - Soil water extraction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85083565993&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106206
DO - 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106206
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85083565993
VL - 238
JO - Agricultural Water Management
JF - Agricultural Water Management
SN - 0378-3774
M1 - 106206
ER -