Water harvesting and nitrogen fertilizer application as a means of increasing crop water use efficiencies in suboptimal conditions in upland Baluchistan
1991
Rees, D.J. | Keatinge, J.D.H. (ICARDA, Aleppo (Syria)) | Islam, M. | Samiullah, A. | Qureshi, Z. | Mehmood, S. | Rehman, F. | Raza, H. | Khan, B.R. (Arid Zone Research Inst., Quetta (Pakistan))
The results of a wheat variety/fertilizer and a water harvesting trial conducted in upland Baluchistan over several years are reviewed. The local wheat variety was found to be more cold-tolerant than the improved variety recommended for this area. Phosphate fertilizer gave little increase in productivity, perhaps due to high rates of fixation on the highly calcareous soils (20-35 lime) of Baluchistan. The addition of nitrogen fertilizer was economic only in the wet 1986/87 season. Examination of the data and limited soil water information suggested that economic responses to nitrogen can be expected only if crop water availability is in the order of 300 mm, a situation likely in only 5 to 25 of years under rainfed conditions in upland Baluchistan. A simple form of water harvesting, consisting of clearing and compacting the upper part of gently sloping valley-bottom fields to form a catchment area, gave considerable increases in water availability and crop yields in both a wet and an extremely dry year. These results suggest that appreciable increases in productivity in upland Baluchistan should be possible, with a combination of water harvesting and nitrogen fertilizer use
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