More crop per drop: Ways to increase water use efficiency for crop production: A review

Abstract

Water is the most crucial input for agricultural production. Vagaries of monsoon and declining water table due to over exploitation of water have resulted in shortage of fresh water supply for agricultural use, which calls for an efficient use of this precious resource. In the background of shrinking water resources and competition from other sectors, the share of water allocated to irrigation is likely to decrease by 10 to 15 per cent in the next two decades. Thus, producing more with less is the only option. One of the ways of alleviating water scarcity is by enhancing its use efficiency or productivity. Strategies for efficient management of water for agricultural use involves reduction in water losses in conveyance and distribution system through periodic maintenance, applying the right quantity at right time, participation of farmers in water management, right cultivation techniques and irrigation practices including increased use of water saving devices like sprinkler and drip, precision levelling, provision of proper drainage channels, conjunctive use of surface and ground waters and moisture conservation practices. In this paper, we have discussed various ways of enhancing use efficiency and productivity of water in agricultural production system. These include: better utilization of stored soil moisture by adjusting time and method of sowing, improved planting patterns reducing evaporation loss of soil moisture by mulching, intercropping, supplemental and deficit irrigation provided to crops at critical growth stages, removal of nutrient constraints by supplying optimum fertilizer inputs and improved irrigation methods like sprinkler and drip irrigation.

Full text

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International Journal of Chemical Studies 2018; 6(3): 3573-3578
P-ISSN: 2349–8528
E-ISSN: 2321–4902
IJCS 2018; 6(3): 3573-3578
© 2018 IJCS
Received: 05-03-2018
Accepted: 08-04-2018
Jyoti Pawar
Department of Agronomy
College of Agriculture G.B. Pant
University of Agriculture &
Technology Pantnagar,
U.S. Nagar Uttarakhand, India
Richa Khanna
Department of Agronomy
College of Agriculture G.B. Pant
University of Agriculture &
Technology Pantnagar,
U.S. Nagar Uttarakhand, India
Correspondence
Jyoti Pawar
Department of Agronomy
College of Agriculture G.B. Pant
University of Agriculture &
Technology Pantnagar,
U.S. Nagar Uttarakhand, India
More crop per drop: Ways to increase water use
efficiency for crop production: A review
Jyoti Pawar and Richa Khanna
Abstract
Water is the most crucial input for agricultural production. Vagaries of monsoon and declining water
table due to over exploitation of water have resulted in shortage of fresh water supply for agricultural use,
which calls for an efficient use of this precious resource. In the background of shrinking water resources
and competition from other sectors, the share of water allocated to irrigation is likely to decrease by 10 to
15 per cent in the next two decades. Thus, producing more with less is the only option. One of the ways
of alleviating water scarcity is by enhancing its use efficiency or productivity. Strategies for efficient
management of water for agricultural use involves reduction in water losses in conveyance and
distribution system through periodic maintenance, applying the right quantity at right time, participation
of farmers in water management, right cultivation techniques and irrigation practices including increased
use of water saving devices like sprinkler and drip, precision levelling, provision of proper drainage
channels, conjunctive use of surface and ground waters and moisture conservation practices. In this
paper, we have discussed various ways of enhancing use efficiency and productivity of water in
agricultural production system. These include: better utilization of stored soil moisture by adjusting time
and method of sowing, improved planting patterns reducing evaporation loss of soil moisture by
mulching, intercropping, supplemental and deficit irrigation provided to crops at critical growth stages,
removal of nutrient constraints by supplying optimum fertilizer inputs and improved irrigation methods
like sprinkler and drip irrigation.
Keywords: Water use efficiency, crop management practices, crop production, irrigation water
Introduction
Water plays an important role in agricultural development under rainfed condition. Continuous
population growth and the predicted impacts of climate change, including shifts in
precipitation and glacier melt, makes the water challenge greater. In the background of
shrinking water resources and competition from other sectors, the share of water allocated to
irrigation is likely to decrease by 10 to 15 per cent in the next two decades. As of now
irrigation sector consumes about 83% of the total water use which may reduce to about 72%
by 2025 (Mo WR, 2014) [19].
The concept of Water Use Efficiency (WUE)
In general term efficiency is used to quantify the relative output obtainable from a given input.
So, water use efficiency is output obtained by inputting the known amount of water in general
terms. Water use efficiency is an important physiological characteristic that is related to the
ability of crop to cope with water stress. In simple terms it is characterized by crop yield per
unit of water used. WUE can be defined as biomass produced per unit area per unit water
evapo-transpired. WUE is expressed in equation as follows:
WUE = Y/ET
Where,
WUE = water use efficiency (kg/ha mm of water)
Y = marketable yield (kg/ha)
ET = evapo-transpiration (mm)
Enhancing the water use efficiency
1. Selection of crop
It should be done on the basis of availability of water under rainfed crops. WUE of different

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International Journal of Chemical Studies
crop varies differently because of many reasons, like C4
plants are more water efficient as compared to C3 plants as
they lack photorespiration and have various adaptive
mechanisms to water scarcity condition, apart from this
climate, soil and crop characteristics are also responsible for
variation in water use efficiency of different crops.
Table 1: WUE of some important field crops in India
CROP
WUE (kg/m3)
Rice
0.30-0.54
Wheat
0.58-2.25
Maize
0.49-1.63
Chickpea
0.40-4.02
Mustard
0.41-0.98
Sugarcane
3.25-7.83
Cotton
0.17-0.40
Source: Yadav et al. (2000) [46]
2. Varieties
The yields and water use efficiency of cultivars/hybrids of
crops differs significantly. Those varieties/hybrids which have
ability to produce more yield than the water used should be
grown under the limited water areas to increase the water
productivity per unit area. Shivani et al. (2001, 2003) [38, 37]
and Behera et al. (2002) [4] reported that wheat cultivars HUW
234 and Lok 1 had higher water use efficiency. Similar
findings were also reported by Singh et al. (2004) [43] in
chickpea for genotype Avarodhi, Awasthi et al. (2007) [2] and
Panda et al. (2004) [21] reported that Indian mustard varieties
such as Vaibhav and SEJ 2, Kumar et al. (2003) [16] and
Rathore et al. (2008) [34] in pearl millet hybrid HHB 67-2,
HHB 94 and HHB 117, Hooda et al. (1999) [9] in field pea
variety HFP-8712 and Patel et al. (2008) [25] in cowpea variety
GC 4, respectively.
3. Time of Planting and tillage practices
Time of sowing is a non-monitory input which is not only
ensures the higher yields but also optimum utilization of the
applied resources. One of the main reason for choosing the
optimum dates for sowing is to ensure good germination by
placing the seed in the optimum moisture zone (Singh et al.
2013a) [39] Choice of crop cultivar is also a vital production
input as all the cultivars of wheat cannot perform equally well
under timely and late sown condition (Singh et al. 1998) [42].
In another field experiment highest grain yield, WUE and net
productivity of used water was recorded under early sowing
with minimum tillage (table 2). Gulati and Nayak (2002) [8]
conducted a field experiment at Orissa having treatment
combinations of 4 irrigation levels and 6 dates of planting.
Cane yield and water requirement were maximum at 1.2
IW/CPE treatment but water use efficiency was recorded
maximum at 0.6 IW/CPE. In planting dates, October planting
recorded the maximum cane yield, water requirement and
WUE over delayed planting. Hence, during dry season when
water is not available, particularly in tail reach, early sowing
of crops with minimum tillage can increase the water
productivity by utilising residual soil moisture.
Tillage modifies hydrological properties of the soil and
influence the root growth, canopy development of crops,
water extraction pattern and transport of water and solutes.
Conservation tillage practice stores more plant available
moisture than the conventional tillage practices.
Table 2: Grain Yield, Evapotranspiration, WUE and Net Water Productivity in Horse Gram under different sowing time and tillage practices
Treatment
Grain Yield (kg/ha)
Total ET (mm)
WUE (kg m-3)
Net Productivity of water (Rs m-3)
Early sowing 1 with minimum tillage
1290
241.3
0.60
4.85
Late sowing 2 with minimum tillage
1060
182.8
0.53
4.30
Paira cropping 3 without tillage
750
188.6
0.40
2.93
CD (P=0.05)
130
21.4
0.06
0.37
1 on 15th October, 2 on 1st November, 3 on 15th October, 10 days before rice harvest
Source: Singh et al. (2008) [44], Orissa
4. Intercropping
Intercropping systems are generally recommended for rainfed
crops to get stable yields. The total water used in
intercropping system is almost the same as for sole crops, but
yields are increased, thus water use efficiency is higher than
sole crops (Singh et al. 2013b) [41]. Parihar et al. (1999) [24]
and Singh et al. (2004) [43] reported that rice-coriander-maize
+ cowpea (F) and rice-lentil-maize + cowpea (F) and had the
lowest water use resulted in highest water use efficiency in
flood prone and semi-deep water situation, respectively. A
field experiment was conducted by Bharti et al. 2007 [5]
during winter season of 2002-03 and 2003-04 at Pusa in Bihar
to study the effect of inter cropping system. Among the
treatments maximum water use efficiency (on the basis of
maize equivalent yield) was obtained with maize + potato
(Table 3). Tetarwal and Rana (2006) [45] and Kumar and Rana
(2007) [15] reported that one row of moth bean in paired row
of pearl millet + and one row of green gram between paired
rows of pigeonpea recorded higher water use efficiency over
sole crop, respectively. This might be due to higher grain
yields of both the crops than the amount of water used for
biomass production.
Table 3: Effect of intercropping system on yield and water use efficiency of winter maize
Treatment
Water requirement(cm)
Maize equivalent yield (q/ha)
WUE (kg/ha-cm)
Sole maize
56.9
55.1
213.7
Maize+ potato
51.0
123.5
526.2
Maize + rajmash
50.6
83.8
352.8
Maize + toria
50.9
57.7
247.3
CD (P=0.05)
0.3
7.4
31.0
Source: Bharti et al. (2007) [5]
Planting techniques/methods
Another agronomic method for increasing water use
efficiency is to follow proper planting techniques/methods.
Broad bed and furrows (BBF) are formed for rainy season
crops. For some crops like maize, vegetables etc. the field has
to be laid out into ridges and furrows. Sugarcane is planted in
the furrows or trenches. Crops like tobacco, tomato, chillies
are planted with equal inter and intra-row spacing so as to

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International Journal of Chemical Studies
facilitate two-way inter-cultivation (Singh et al. 2012) [40].
Planting crop on raised beds is a practice for increasing water
use efficiency. The crop is sown with drill or planted on beds
and water is applied in furrows. The comparable or higher
yields are obtained with saving of about 25-30 percent of
water. This had been practiced in different crops like wheat,
sarson, soybean and rice. Jat and Gautam (2001) [11] reported
that sowing of bajra in ridges and furrows (45 cm apart)
resulted in higher seed yield as compared to paired row
sowing and uniform row sowing (45 cm). However, Ghadage
et al. (2005) [6] reported that the water use efficiency of cotton
was more in paired row planting (90 cm x 105 cm) because
this method consumed less water than the water used by
normal planting method (120 cm x 90 cm). Gill et al. (2006)
[7] reported that better water use efficiency and water
productivity were observed in direct seeded rice. Ridge and
furrow sowing also resulted in maximum water use
efficiency. Kaur (2006) [13] reported that water use efficiency
of wheat planted on beds was highest followed by
conventional and zero tillage. Similar results reported by Ali
and Ehsanullah (2007) [1] in cotton, Zhang et al. (2007) [47] in
winter wheat, Idnani and Gautam (2008) [10] in summer
greengram and Mahey et al. (2008) [10] in soybean. In an
experiment maximum chickpea grain yield was recorded
under raised bed planting which was significantly higher by
16.8% and 15.9% over flatbed technique, during 2005-06 and
2006-07 (Pramanik et al. 2009) [26] (Table 4).
Table 4: Yield and water use efficiency of Chickpea as influenced
by planting techniques
Planting
techniques
Grain yield (t/ha)
WUE (kg/ha-mm)
2005-06
2006-07
2005-06
2006-07
Flat bed
1.84
2.01
10.27
9.72
Raised bed
2.15
2.33
12.06
11.33
CD(P=0.05)
0.11
0.16
--
--
Source: Pramanik et al. (2009) [26], U.P.
6. Irrigation Scheduling
Under adequate water availability the main emphasis is on
securing potential yield of the crops without wasting water.
Whereas, under limited water supply, the objective is to
achieve maximum WUE. Nadeem et al. (2007) [20] reported
that maximum water use efficiency of wheat was recorded at
IW: CPE ratio 1.25, which was statistically on a par with that
at IW: CPE ratio 1.0. The increase in water use efficiency
with increase in irrigation level might be due to greater grain
yield. Kibe and Singh (2003) [14] reported that water use
efficiency of wheat was the maximum with 2 irrigations given
at crown root initiation stage and flowering stages in the first
season and with one irrigation given at crown root initiation
stage in the second season, followed by no post-sowing
treatment. Reddy et al. (2008) [35] reported that higher water
use efficiency of pigeon pea was recorded with 0.3 IW: CPE
as compared to 0.6 and 0.9 IW: CPE ratio. Maintenance of
favourable moisture and absence of water logging were the
critical factors for higher yield in rabi pigeonpea (Kantwa et
al. 2005) [12]. Bharati et al. (2007) [5] reported that water use
efficiency of maize was the highest with the application of
irrigation at 0.6 IW: CPE ratio as compared to 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2
IW: CPE ratio. Idnani and Gautam (2008) [10] reported that
irrigation at 80 mm cumulative pan evaporation recorded the
highest consumptive use of water and rate of water use and
irrigation at 200 mm cumulative pan evaporation resulted in
the highest water use efficiency and the lowest consumptive
use of water and rate of water use of green gram. Deficit
irrigation is an optimizing strategy under which crops are
deliberately allowed to sustain some degree of water deficit
and yield reduction. The proper application of deficit
irrigation practices can generate significant savings in
irrigation water allocation and crops like cotton is well suited
for deficit irrigation. Rao et al. (2016a) [29] reported that
irrigation in cotton with drip irrigation at 0.8 ETC had
significant benefits in terms of saved irrigation water without
reducing yield (table 5).
Table 5: Effect of deficit irrigation on yield and water productivity
of cotton
Deficit
irrigation
Seed cotton yield
(kg/ha)
Water
Productivity (kg/m3 )
1.0 ETC
2482
0.40
0.8 ETC
2393
0.41
0.6 ETC
1884
0.38
CD (P=0.05)
92
0.02
Source: Rao et al. (2016a) [29], Rajasthan
7. Moisture conservation practices
Moisture conservation practices have been widely practiced
as a mean of improving yields in water limited environment.
Raskar and Bhoi (2003) [32] reported that the water use
efficiency of groundnut was higher with use of plastic film
mulch with kaolin and was lowest in the control. It could be
due to the reduction in the evapotranspiration with plastic film
mulch and kaolin spray. Ghadage et al. (2005) [6] reported that
the water use efficiency of cotton was more under the plastic
film mulch due to the lowest water consumed by the crop
under plastic film mulch. Rajput and Singh (1970) [27]
reported saving of water by mulches. Kumar and Rana (2007)
[15] reported that application of soil mulch +FYM 5 t/ha +
Kaolin 6% spray was found the best moisture conservation
practice by recording the maximum values of pigeon pea-
equivalent yield (pigeonpea + green gram), nutrient uptake
and water use efficiency. In another study, Pandey et al.
(1988) [22] reported that on rainfed land, straw mulch, pre-
sowing seed treatment with KNO3 and kaolin spray on pearl
millet (BK 560-230) greatly increased the grain yield (0.83,
0.74 and 0.49 t/ha), respectively and water use efficiency
(2.25, 1.80 and 1.34 kg grain/ha/mm, respectively) compared
with the untreated control (Table 6). Rashidi et al. (2009) [31]
also reported that black plastic mulch has pronounced effect
in increasing yield and yield components in tomato in timely
and late planted crop in comparison to tomatoes grown
without mulch.
Table 6: Consumptive water use and water use efficiency as
influenced by mulch and transpiration suppressants in pearl millet
Mulch and transpiration
suppressant
Consumptive use
(mm)
WUE (kg/ha-
mm)
Untreated control
333
5.45
Straw mulch
316
7.45
Seed treatment with KNO3
323
7.00
Borax spray
327
5.92
Kaolin spray
320
6.55
Atrazine spray
325
6.00
Source: Pandey et al. 1988 [22]
8. Irrigation Method
Efficient micro-irrigation methods like sprinkler and drip
irrigation for utilization of available water in case of scarce in
lean season developed mainly for high value horticultural and
plantation crops could save up to 50 per cent of water and also

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International Journal of Chemical Studies
increase the crop yield and quality substantially. To meet the
ever-increasing demand of food with decreasing fresh water
availability to agriculture, crops must produce more with less
water. The use of pressurized irrigation technology could
increase water-use efficiency and reduce cost. Results
revealed that pressurized irrigation system i.e. MS, DS and
their combination with check basin method resulted in
significantly higher seed yield, production efficiency and B: C
ratio as compared with check basic alone (table 7). SWI with
drip emitters spaced at 30 cm is a promising adaptation for
reducing wheat crop’s demand for water and energy (Rao et
al. 2016b) [30]. Santosh Kumari, 2012 [17] reported that drip
irrigation along with black polyethylene mulch may prove a
viable tool for source sink alteration, early stolon initiation for
obtaining maximum yield with 50% saving of irrigation water
in potato. Bandyopadhyay et al. (2010) [3] reported that when
20 cm irrigation was supplied up to flowering stage or 14 cm
irrigation was supplied up to tillering stage, through sprinkler
method in 4 and 3 splits, respectively at critical growth stages,
it resulted in higher grain yield and WUE of wheat in a
Vertisol than that in flood irrigation method.
Table 7: Effect of irrigation methods on Seed Yield and Water use
efficiency (WUE) of Indian mustard
Irrigation system
Seed yield (t/ha)
WUE (kg/ha-mm)
Check Basin
1.51
12.7
Drip System
1.79
29.8
Micro Sprinkler
1.87
31.3
Micro Sprinkler + Check Basin
1.88
21.9
Drip System + Check Basin
1.68
19.8
CD (P=0.05)
0.21
2.1
Source: Rathore et al. (2014) [34]
9. Fertilization
Fertilizer use can also have a very marked effect on crop yield
and water use efficiency. Nitrogen, phosphorus, combination
of chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizer or chemical
fertilizer with bio fertilizer has been shown to increase growth
and development in both dry and irrigated areas. Kumar et al.
(2003) [16] reported that increasing levels of N from 0 to 150
kg/ha application markedly improved the water use efficiency
of pearl millet. Tetarwal and Rana (2006) [45] reported that the
highest water use efficiency, consumptive use and rate of
moisture use were recorded with 80 kg N + 40 kg P2O5/ha,
followed by 40 kg N + 20 kg P2O5/ha and the control. It
might be due to that increase in pearl millet-equivalent yield
was more than the corresponding increase in consumptive use
of water due to fertility level. Behera et al. (2002) [4] reported
that fertilizing the cotton crop at 160 kg N/ha recorded
significantly higher water use efficiency than lower levels of
nitrogen, 120 and 80 kg/ha. It might be due to higher seed
cotton yield obtained under higher nitrogen level. Kibe and
Singh (2003) [14] reported that water use efficiency of wheat
was increased with addition of N fertilizer to a maximum with
100 kg N/ha (table 8). Singh et al. (2004) [43] reported that
application of 40 kg S/ha to chickpea resulted in higher water
use efficiency than no sulphur and 20 kg S/ha. Parihar (2004)
[23] reported that the highest water use efficiency of rice was
recorded with 120 kg N/ha which was 16.77% higher than 80
kg N/ha. Sarma et al. (2005) [36] reported the maximum water
use efficiency of wheat with application of 187.5 kg N + 10 t
FYM/ha + Azotobacter. However, Ramakrishna et al. (2007)
[28] reported that maximum water use efficiency and field
water use efficiency of rice with 150 per cent N of
recommended fertilizer dose (25 per cent substituted by
FYM) Kumar and Rana (2007) [15] reported that application of
40 kg P2O5/ha + 25 kg S/ha + phosphate-stabilizing bacteria
(PSB) recorded the maximum values of pigeonpea-equivalent
yield, nutrient uptake, water use efficiency and net returns.
Table 8: Water use efficiency as influenced by nitrogen levels
Nitrogen (kg/ha)
Water use efficiency (kg grain/m3 water used)
1999-2000
2000-2001
0
1.09
1.12
50
1.30
1.35
100
1.46
1.52
Source: Kibe and Singh, 2003 [14]
Conclusion
To meet ever increasing demand for food with decreasing
fresh water availability to agriculture, crop must produce
more with less water. The main challenge confronting both
rainfed and irrigated agriculture is to improve productivity or
use efficiency of water and sustainable water use for
agriculture. This can be achieved through (i) an increase in
crop water productivity (an increased marketable crop yield
per unit of water taken up by crop), (ii) a decrease in water
outflows from the crop root zone other than that required by
plants, (iii) an increase in soil water storage within the crop
root zone through better soil and water management practices
at farm and catchment scales, and (iv) reallocating water from
low to high priority uses. Adoption of novel irrigation
technologies for crop production and multi-uses of water with
introduction of fishery, dairy and other enterprises in the
farming can further enhance productivity and use efficiency
of water in agriculture. Besides technological advancement,
favourable public policy to create conducive socio-economic
environment is required for enhancing water productivity in
the agricultural sector of our country.
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KK, Pandaya KS. Energetic, yield, water use and
economics of rice-based cropping system. Indian J
Agron. 1999; 44(2):205-209.
25. Patel IC, Patel BS, Patel MM, Patel AG, Tikka SBS.
Effect of irrigation schedule, dates of sowing and
genotypes on yield, water use efficiency, water expense
efficiency and water extraction pattern of cowpea. J of
Food Legumes. 2008; 21(3):175-177.
26. Pramanik SC, Singh NB, Singh KK. Yield, economics
and water use efficiency of chickpea (Cicer arietinum)
under various irrigation regimes on raised bed planting
system. Indian J Agron. 2009; 54(3):315-318.
27. Rajput RK, Singh M. Efficiency of different mulches in
conserving soil moisture in cotton. Indian J Agron. 1970;
15:41-45.
28. Ramakrishna Y, Singh Subedar, Prihar SS. Influence of
irrigation regime and nitrogen management on
productivity, nitrogen uptake and water use by rice
(Oryza sativa). Indian J Agron. 2007; 52(2):102-106.
29. Rao KVR, Bajpai A, Gangwar S, Chourasia L, Soni K.
Maximising water productivity of wheat crop by adopting
drip irrigation. Res. on Crops. 2016; 17(1):163-168.
30. Rao SS, Tanwar SPS, Regar PL. Effect of deficit
irrigation, phosphorous inoculation and cycocel spray on
root growth, seed cotton yield and water productivity of
drip irrigated cotton in arid environment. Agril. Water
Management. 2016; 169:14-25.
31. Rashidi M, Abbasi S, Gholami M. Interactive effect of
plastic mulch and tillage methods on yield and yield
components of tomato. American-Eurasian Journal of
Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. 2009; 5(3):420-
7.
32. Raskar BS, Bhoi PG. Response of summer groundnut
(Arachis hypogaea) to irrigation regime and mulching.
Indian J Agron. 2003; 48(3):210-213.
33. Rathore BS, Rana VS, Nanwal RK. Effect of plant
density and fertilizer levels on growth and yield of pearl
millet (Pennisetum glaucum) hybrids under limited
irrigation conditions in semi-arid environment. Indian J
Agri Sci. 2008; 78(8):667-670.
34. Rathore SS, Shekhawat K, Premi OP, Kandpal BK,
Chauhan JS. Comparative effect of irrigation systems and
nitrogen fertigation on growth, productivity and water-
use efficiency of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) under
semi-arid conditions of Rajasthan Indian J Agro. 2014;
59(1):112-118.
35. Reddy MM, Padmaja B, Jalapathi RL. Response of rabi
pigeonpea to irrigation scheduling and weed management
in Alfisols. Jfood Legumes. 2008; 21(4):237-239.
36. Sarma A, Singh H, Nanwal RK. Growth, yield and water
use efficiency of wheat (Triticum aestivum) as influenced
by integrated nutrient management under adequate and
limited irrigation. Haryana J Agron. 2005; 21(2):96-100.
37. Shivani Verma UNL, Kumar Sanjeev, Pal SK, Thakur R.
Growth analysis of wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars
under different seeding dates and irrigation levels in
Jharkhand. Indian J Agron. 2003; 48(4):282-286.

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International Journal of Chemical Studies
38. Shivani Verma UN, Pal SK, Thakur R, Kumar S.
Production potential and water use efficiency of wheat
(Triticum aestivum) cultivars under different dates of
seeding and irrigation levels. Indian J Agron. 2001;
46(4):659-664.
39. Singh AK, Bhatt BP, Sundaram PK, Gupta AK, Singh D.
Planting geometry to optimize growth and productivity
faba bean (Vicia faba L.) and soil fertility. J Environ.
Biol. 2013a; 34(1):117-122.
40. Singh AK, Bhatt BP, Sundaram PK, Chandra N, Bharati
RC, Patel SK. Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) phenology and
performance in response to its seed size class and
planting depth. Int. J of Agril. & Stat. Sci. 2012; 8(1):97-
109.
41. Singh AK, Singh KA, Bharati RC, Chandra N. Response
of intercrops and nutrient management on the
performance of tobacco based intercropping system and
assessment of system sustainability. Bangladesh J Bot.
2013b; 42(2):343-348.
42. Singh DK, Agarwal RL, Ahuja KN. Response of wheat
varieties to different seeding dates for agro climatic
conditions of Agra region. Annals of Agril. Res. 1998;
19(4):496-498.
43. Singh MK, Singh RP, Singh RK. Influence of crop
geometry, cultivar and weed-management practice on
crop-weed competition in chickpea (Cicer arietinum).
Indian J of Agron. 2004; 49(4):258-261.
44. Singh R, Kundu DK, Kannan K, Thakur AK, Mohanty
RK, Kumar A. Technologies for Improving Farm-level
Water Productivity in Canal Commands. Water
Technology Centre for Eastern Region, Bhubaneswar,
India, Research Bulletin No. 2008; 43:1-56.
45. Tetarwal JP, Rana KS. Impact of cropping system,
fertility level and moisture-conservation practice on
productivity, nutrient uptake, water use and profitability
of pearlmillet (Pennisetum glaucum) under rainfed
conditions. Indian J Agron. 2006; 51(4):263-266.
46. Yadav RL, Singh SR, Prasad K, Dwivedi BS, Batta RK,
Singh AK et al. Management of irrigated agro ecosystem.
In Natural Resource Management for Agricultural
Production in India (J.S.P. Yadav and G.B. Singh, Eds.),
Indian Society of Soil Science, New Delhi, 2000, 775-
870.
47. Zhang J, Sun J, Duan A, Wang J, Shen X, Liu X. Effects
of different planting patterns on water use and yield
performance of winter wheat in the Huang-Huai-Hai
plain of China. Agri. Water Mgt. 2007; 92:41-47.