Abstract
The efficient application of irrigation and fertilizer are very important for optimizing crop water productivity and water losses
even in drip irrigation. The application of sensor for monitoring of soil moisture and quantifying irrigation water is the valuable
instrument for irrigation scheduling and water saving. Thus, a research study was conducted at Water Management Research
Centre (PARAS), University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan to measure crop production response to water deficit and
fertilizer levels in sensor-based drip irrigation system. The present study was also consisted IT-based web server for monitoring
soil moisture status and subsequently served as decision support system for applying irrigation to the crops. Therefore,
experiments were conducted on wheat crop with following treatments: five irrigation levels {sensor-based irrigation at
CWR(SD1), 15%(SD2), 30(SD3), 50(SD4)% MAD compared with conventional time-based (TD) drip irrigation system} and
three fertilizer levels {100%(F1), 80%(F2) and 60%(F3) of recommended fertilizer}. The average results of wheat crop revealed
that grain yield was 30.5, 18.27, 24.63 and 13.87% higher in SD1, SD2, SD3, SD4 compared to TD, respectively under F1
fertilizer treatments in each. Among sensor-based drip irrigation (SD) treatments, water saving was more in SD4 but produced
less crop yield than other treatments. Consequently, the higher water productivity was achieved in SD4 but resulted grain yield
loss. Fertilizer treatments were also showed significant impact on crop yield and soil fertility. Comparatively, SD2F2 at 15%
MAD level and 20% less fertilizer produced higher yield and water productivity conceived as novel concept that save water in
addition to higher grain yield. Therefore, irrigating using sensors at 30% less then field capacity and 20% less then
recommended dose would be recommended.
Riaz Ahmad, Usman Zafar, Muhammad Arshad, Muhammad Jehanzeb Masud Cheema. (2020) SENSOR BASED DRIP IRRIGATION TO ENHANCE CROP YIELD AND WATER PRODUCTIVITY IN SEMI-ARID CLIMATIC REGION OF PAKISTAN, Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Volume 57, Issue 5.
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