Efficiency of water use by irrigated wheat in the Sudan

Abstract

SUMMARYField experiments were conducted to study the differential responses of a wheat crop to water stress during different stages of its growth. Evidence was produced to show that both the flowering phase and the stage of grain filling and maturation were more sensitive to drought than the vegetative period of growth. Yield of wheat was not reduced when the crop suffered from cycles of water stress induced during the vegetative period, if the crop received favourable water regimes thereafter. Efficiency of water utilization from different water treatments was assessed. There was no relation between the protein and starch contents of the grain and the type of water treatment.The effects of different water treatments on crop development and on components of yield were studied.