Innovations in Dryland Agriculture

555

losses. A study by ICARDA and its partners (Ilbeyi et al. 2006 ) on the impact of
early sowing on the productivity of bread wheat with one irrigation at sowing and
deficit supplemental irrigation during other dry spells showed that early establish-
ment of the crop with one irrigation at sowing increased grain yield by more than
65 %, adding about 2.0 t ha−^1 to the average rainfed yield of 3.2 t ha−^1. Early sowing
with SI allowed early crop emergence and good stand development before the win-
ter frost. As a result, the crop used rainwater more efficiently. Additional supple-
mental irrigation in the spring significantly increased yield. Grain yields of 5.12,
5.17 and 5.35 t ha−^1 were obtained by applying one-third, two-thirds and full SI,
respectively. The mean productivity of irrigation water given at sowing was
3.70 kg m−^3 with a maximum value of 4.50 kg m−^3. Water productivity of one-third,
two-thirds and full SI was 2.39, 1.46 and 1.27 kg m−^3 , respectively, compared to
rainwater productivity of 0.96 kg m−^3.

2009

FC 100%FC 75%FC 50%FC 25%

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

2008

FC 100%FC 75%FC 50%FC 25%

LWG kg/ha/

d

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

a b

2010

FC 100%FC 75% FC 50%FC 25%

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

c3.0

Fig. 2 Mean liveweight production (kg ha−^1 d−^1 ) in (a) 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010 from four
pastures irrigated to 100, 75, 50, 25 % of field capacity (FC) in Bahri Dagdas Agricultural Research
Institute in Konya, Central Anatolia. Bars represent LSD

Supplemental Irrigation: A Promising Climate-Resilience Practice for Sustainable...