Effect of irrigation scheduling and nitrogen levels on growth, yield and water productivity of linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) under Vertisols

A field experiment was conducted during Rabi season of 2015-16 at the Instructional cum Research Farm, IGKV, Raipur to study the effect of different irrigation scheduling and nitrogen levels on growth, yield attributes, yield, water and nitrogen productivity of linseed (Linum usitatissimumL.). The experiment was laid out in split plot design keeping four irrigation schedules viz., come-up (I1), one (I2), two (I3) and three irrigation (I4) in main plots and four levels of nitrogen viz., control (N0), 30 kg (N1), 60 kg (N2) and 90 kg N ha-1 (N3) in sub plots with three replications. Results revealed that highest seed yield was obtained with linseed provided two irrigations (1683 kg ha-1) and application of 90 kg N ha-1 (1604 kg ha-1). Moreover, crop supplied with two irrigations in combination with 90 kg N ha-1 (I3×N3) gave significantly (P=0.05) highest seed yield (2097 kg ha-1) compared to rest of the treatment combinations. The excessive use of irrigation and fertilizers also affects farmer’s economy, as the crop is relatively low yielder. Two irrigations are better than three irrigations in terms of seed yield and water productivity; and application of 60 kg N is better than 90 kg N ha-1 in view of nitrogen productivity. The WP and IWP were decreasing as increasing the number of irrigation, but increasing with increasing the levels of nitrogen, while NP was highest with two irrigations (11.09 kg, kg-1 N) and application of 60 kg N ha-1 (8.90 kg, kg-1 N)