Investigation of the Irrigation Management with Saline Water on Sorghum Yield and Growth Indices

Abstract

Improper usage of unqualified water in agriculture has triggered salinity in many areas. The area of saline lands as a result of aquatic agriculture has increased 44.5 million hectares until 2005 in Iran (Banai et al., 2005). As a result of Soil salinity over the plant tolerance threshold, excessive accumulation of salt in the root zone can be a serious threat to plant growth (Silsepour and Rashidi, 2008). Reducing plant growth indices such as leaf and vegetation decreases evapotranspiration (Shani and Bengal,2005). Subsequently, the decline in plant growth will reduce crop production in many plants (Kaman et al,2008). Sorghum due to physiological characteristics such as drought tolerance, salinity, water use efficiency higher than other forage plants, relatively high yield, desirable quality, and its ability to maintain as dry forage, especially silage has a special value in arid and semi-arid regions (Zarbin and Thomas,2003). Tabatabaei and Anagli (2012) examined the effect of salinity on sorghum in the germination stage. Their study results showed, Sorghum of KFS2 cultivar is introduced as salinity tolerant sorghum due to the highest amount of germination in saline conditions. Sistan is one of the important areas for the development of sorghum in the country and in terms of cultivating corn and forage Sorghum has the fifteenth place among the provinces of the country(Binam,1388). The lack of water in Sistan plain is a serious issue. The only water source in the area is the Hirmand River, which originates from the Baba mountains of Afghanistan. The region's water crisis is due to water shortages in this river. so that, the lack of hydrometeorological water has led to the destruction of the region's agriculture. Therefore, planning for the best use of water resources is essential and inevitable. By choosing proper method for managing salty water, product performance reduction can be prevented as much as possible and reduce non-salt water demand, and by the obtained results it is possible to plan properly to increase the agricultural production in special circumstances (salinity restriction). Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of saline water management methods on yield and yield components of sorghum.

Keywords

• sorghum
• furrow irrigationon
• saline water
• every other irrigation