Influence of Irrigation Scheduling on Productivity of Wheat + Mustard Intercropping System

The water resources are rapidly declining due to nominal recharging by rainfalls. Thus, the
water applied through irrigation should focus on its judicious use by utilizing every drop of water.
However, irrigation at a suitable IW/CPE ratio in cereal legume intercropping systems can improve the
system's productivity in addition to proficient use of water. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted at
Instructional Research Farm, Krishi Nagar, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Jawaharlal
Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur (M.P.) during Rabi season 2020-21 to study the effect of
irrigation scheduling on different intercropping practices. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot
design with fifteen treatment combinations and replicated thrice. The results revealed that, among the
irrigation scheduling, different parameters, i.e., plant height, dry matter production, and also grain and
seed yield, were recorded higher in irrigation scheduling of 1.0 Irrigation water/Cumulative pan
evaporation ratio and most suitable for the wheat + mustard intercropping system after that 0.8 IW/CPE
ratio and lower in scheduling irrigation at 0.6 IW/CPE ratio. Among intercropping practices, sole wheat
and mustard recorded higher crop growth parameters and yield. IW/CPE of 0.6 with an 8:2 row ratio
gives higher LER and is most suitable for wheat + mustard intercropping system.