554
2.3 Turkey
2.3.1 Supplemental Irrigation of Pasture for Livestock Feeding
Supplemental irrigation can be a useful water management tool to increase water
productivity of rainfed forage and sheep production from pastures in water-deprived
areas. A three-year study (Ates et al. 2013 ) by scientists at ICARDA and the Bahri
Dagdas International Agricultural Research Institute, Konya compared sheep pro-
duction from permanently-sown pastures with four levels of irrigation in Konya,
Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Pastures were established in 2007 with red fes-
cue (Festuca rubra L.), Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), perennial ryegrass
(Lolium perenne L.), white clover (Trifolium repens L.) and bird’s foot trefoil (Lotus
corniculatus L.) and irrigated at 100 %, 75 %, 50 % or 25 % of field capacity (FC)
(Table 3 ).
Established pastures were grazed rotationally by flocks of weaned lambs between
2008 and 2010. Each pasture treatment produced similar liveweight gains in lambs
(g head−^1 d−^1 ) (p = 0.35), but the total animal production (kg ha−^1 d−^1 ) differed (p <
0.01) consistently in each year of the study. Pastures irrigated at FC 100 % and FC
75 % produced approximately 2 kg ha−^1 d−^1 liveweight. Lower levels of irrigation
reduced (p < 0.01) liveweight gain per hectare to less than 1 kg ha−^1 d−^1 pastures
irrigated at FC 25 % (Fig. 2 ). The average annual liveweight production was 498,
445, 380 and 198 kg ha−^1 for FC 100 %, 75 %, 50 % and 25 %, respectively. Water
productivity per unit of meat produced was low with full irrigation, particularly dur-
ing summer months, but increased for each unit of meat produced with deficit
irrigation.
2.3.2 Supplemental Irrigation of Wheat
The Central Anatolian Plateau of Turkey is a typical, cool highland, rainfed wheat
area with annual rainfall ranging from 300 to 500 mm. Due to suboptimal seasonal
rainfall amounts and distribution, wheat yields in this environment are low and fluc-
tuate substantially between seasons. Delayed sowing, due to late rainfall, affects
early crop establishment before the winter frost sets in, causing substantial yield
Table 3 The amount of total (precipitation + irrigation) and supplemental irrigation in four
pastures irrigated to 100, 75, 50, 25 % of field capacity (FC) in Bahri Dagdas Agricultural Research
Institute in Konya, Central Anatolia in 2008, 2009 and 2010
Level of
irrigationSupplemental irrigation
(mm)Total water applied (mm) (precipitation +
irrigation)
2008 2009 2010 2008 2009 2010
100 % 867 760 816 1122 1170 1102
75 % 650 570 612 905 980 898
50 % 433 380 408 688 790 694
25 % 217 190 204 472 600 490V. Nangia and T. Oweis