Effect of Deficit Irrigation under Different Furrow Irrigation Techniques on Cauliflower Yield and Water Productivity in Mardan, Pakistan

| In the dry region of the world, water scarcity is one of the emerging problems which is a severe constraint on food production. The available limited resources of water should be used economically and efficiently to sustain and improve agriculture productions. Based on actual crop requirements, irrigation techniques need improvement to get maximum yield with reduced irrigation. A field experiment was performed at Mardan region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, during 2018-19 with the objectives to evaluate the effect of different furrow irrigation techniques and deficit irrigation on cauliflower yield and water use efficiency (WUE). Three furrow irrigation techniques; alternate furrow irrigation (AFI), fixed furrow irrigation (FFI), and conventional furrow irrigation (CFI) techniques with three levels of irrigation; full irrigation, 80% of full irrigation (DI20), and 60% of full irrigation (DI40) were carried out in randomized complete block design (CRBD) with three replications. Crop water requirement was calculated using CropWat software. Total four irrigations were applied during the growing period of cauliflower. Data on plant parameters were collected periodically and analyzed with statistical software (Statistix 10). The study indicated significant differences in yield and WUE. The highest yield 36.12 tons/ha was observed under CFI with 100% water application. Among the three furrow irrigation systems, AFI gave the highest WUE, while minimum WUE was associated with CFI. It can be concluded from this research study that AFI with full irrigation is the best method as compared to other furrow irrigation techniques to enhance WUE and to save water without a significant reduction in the yield of cauliflower.