ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We take it as our great privilege to thank Dr. Suman Kumar, Professor, Department of Agrometeorology, G.B.P.U.A.&T. Pantnagar, Uttarakhand for his inspiring guidance, unending encouragement and affectionate treatment during the course of investigation. We also feel immense pleasure in extending our sincere thanks to Dr. V. Bharadwaj, Professor & Head, Department of Agrometeorology, Dr. V.K. Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy, Dr. Sobran Singh, Professor, Department of Soil Science and Dr. A.K. Shukla, Professor & Head, Department of Math and Statistics for their valuable suggestions during the progress of this research work. Warmest thanks are due to staff members of Department of Agrometeorology, College of Agriculture, for providing support and cooperation. Nothing can be achieved without complete support of our family member. We owe immensely to our parents whose boundless love, support and blessings made the present endeavor frutify. We are also thankful to our family members for their constant support. Lastly thanks to all beloved and respected people who loved and helped us but could not get separate mention. Place : Meerut Date : May 30, 2011 Shweta Singh Ashutosh Kumar Misra

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CONTENTS

S.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Chapter Introduction Review of Literature Materials and Methods Experimental Results Discussion Summary and Conclusion Literature Cited Appendices

Page 7 9 36 47 75 84 87 101

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LIST OF TABLES Table Title 1. Particle size distribution of Pattharchatta sandy loam soil (Series VI) 2. Chemical properties of Pattharchatta sandy loam soil (Series VI) 3. Bulk density and moisture content of the soil 4. Growing degree days for each penophase during growing season of chickpea in 2005-06 and 2006-07 5. Plant height, number of leaves and number of branches at different days after sowing during chickpea season in 2005-06 and 2006-07 6. Number of days taken to flowering and maturity during 2005-06 and 2006-07 7. Yield attributes of chickpea during 2005-06 and 2006-07 8. Yield studies of chickpea during 2005-06 and 2006-07 9. Daily, weekly and cumulative evapatranspiration of chickpea measured by lysimeter during 2005-06 and 2006-07 10. Pan evapotranspiration measured with USWB class-A pan evaporimeter of chickpea during 2005-06 and 2006-07 11. Weekly ratio of measured ET and pan evaporation (ET/EP) of chickpea during 2005-06 and 2006-07 12. Relationship between measured ET and EP during 2005-06 and 2006-07 13. Relationship between measured ET and estimated ETu using Blaney-Criddle method 14. Relationship between measured ET and estimated ETj, using Jensen-Haise method 15. Relationship between measured ET and estimated ETss using Stephens-Stewart method 16. Relationship between measured ET and estimated ETT using Turc method 17. Relationship between measured ET and estimated ETTW using Thornthwaite method 18. Relationship between measured ET and ETP using Penman method Page 38 38 38 50 56 56 56 57 59 61 63 66 67 68 70 71 71 74

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LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Title Location of Uttarakhand Map of Crop Research Centre (CRC) located at GBPUAT Pantnagar Weighing type lysimeter Growing degree days for each phenophase during growing to maturity of chickpea Spatial temporal variation in temperature at different stages during 2005-06 Spatial and temporal variation in temperature at different stages during 2006-07 Soil temperature at different stages during 2005-06 Soil temperature at different stages during 2006-07 Spatial and temporal variation in relative humidity at different stages during 2006-07 Spatial and temporal variation in relative humidity at different stages during 2006-07 Various stage of crop growth during 2005-06 and 2006-07 Cumulative evapotranspiration of chickpea measured by lysimeter Cumulative pan evaporation of chickpea measured by pan evaporimeter Line diagram of ratio of measured ET by lysimeter and measured EP by USWB class A pan evaporimeter Line diagram of ratio of measured ET and estimated ETu using Blaney-Criddle method Line diagram of ratio of measured ET and estimated ETj using Jensen-Haise method Line diagram of ratio of measured ET and estimated ETss using Stephens-Stewart method Line diagram of ratio of measured ET and estimated ETt using Turc method Line diagram of ratio of measured ET and estimated ETth using Thornthwaite method Line diagram of ratio of measured ET and estimated ETP using Penman method5

Page 36 37 43 50 52 52 53 53 54 55 57 60 63 65 66 69 70 72 73 74

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EP ET IARI Kc USWB WR DM WUE ETly ETu ETj ETss ETt ETth ETp No. GDD ly % r C RH F : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Pan evaporation Evapotranspiration Indian Agriculture Research Institute Crop coefficient United States Weather Bureau Water requirement Dry matter Water Use Efficiency Evapotranspiration using lysimeter Evapotranspiration using Blaney-Criddle method Evapotranspiration using Jensen-Haise method Evapotranspiration using Stephen-Stewart method Evapotranspiration using Turc method Evapotranspiration using Thornthwaite method Evapotranspiration using Penman method Number Growing degree days Langly Per cent Correlation Degree centigrade Relative humidity Degree Fahrenheit

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Chapter 1

Introduction

Pulses have been the mainstay of Indian agriculture, enabling the land to restore fertility so as to produce reasonable yields of succeeding crops and providing proteineous grain and nutritive fodder. Chickpea is one of the important pulse crops of tarai and other regions of Uttarakhand. It is an essentially a winter season crop grown from November to April of this region. In this season supplementary irrigation is essential for successful completion of the life cycle of crop and higher yields. For economizing the water, irrigation should be given as per needs of the crop. Evapotranspiration is a complex phenomenon which depends on the extremely complicated interactions of soil, plant and meteorological factors. Evapotranspiration is measured either by weighing lysimeter or estimated from climatological data or water balance method. The best estimation of evapotranspiration was achieved through measurement of water used by well watered crops which exert minimal canopy resistance. Lysimeter offers not only the advantage of sensitivity and precision but also an accuracy. However, the technique is expensive and involves various complexities. Pan evaporation measured with standard pan (viz. USWB class A) can be related to ET or consumptive use but the technique has to be standardized for different crops under different soil and agroclimatic conditions. A large number of empirical and semi-empirical methods have been proposed and used by various workers for estimating evapotranspiration from various meteorological parameters. However, these methods are not equally applicable and suitable for all the locations and situations. Water is one of most important factors required by a crop or diversified pattern of crops for their normal growth under field conditions. Water is needed mainly to meet the demands of evaporanspiration and the metabolic activities of plants, both together known as consumptive use. Evapotranspiration is an important feature in microclimatic studies related to crop production, due to its7

largely successful application in the economic utilization and application of irrigation water as per actual requirement of crops (Rosenberg et al., 1983). Environment is another important factor which effects the growth and development of chickpea. A rapid rise in temperature and desiccative power of the atmosphere cut short the vegetative and reproductive growth period of crop, resulting in low yield. Temperature and relative humidity affect the steepness of vapour pressure and temperature gradient between soil, plant and atmosphere. Therefore measurement of variations in time and space is essential for understanding the crop weather interactions. Keeping all these in view, the present study was conducted with following objectives: 1) To measure the spatial and temporal variation in air temperature, relative humidity and soil temperature on the canopy of chickpea. 2) 3) To study the growth, development and yield attributes of chickpea. Comparison of estimated amounts of evapotranspiration by various methods in chickpea. 4) To determine the relationship between evapotranspiration and pan evaporation.

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Chapter 2

Review of Literature

Good growth and development of plants are largely governed by plant water balance throughout the growing period. For better understanding of plant water relations and evapotranspiration studies, the knowledge of micrometeorological conditions, soil and plant are essential because they affect water status of plants by controlling process of water loss and water supply. During the day when water loss by transpiration from plant exceeds water absorption by plant roots, water deficit depends mainly on the evaporative demand of the atmosphere and water supply to plant roots. Evaporative demand is a function of meteorological parameters mainly, temperature, humidity, wind velocity and radiation. To have clear understanding of micrometeorological elements and evapotranspiration, growth and development of chickpea, the literature is reviewed under following heads. 2.1 Effect of temperature and relative humidity on crop canopy The condition of temperature decrease with height above the surface, increase with height and no change with height are called lapse, inversion and neutral (adiabatic) conditions, respectively. The vertical gradients may be large (gradients as great as 1 to 10C between the surface and 2 meter are not uncommon) so that the air temperature depends upon the height of measurement. Carduckes and Robertson (1963) observed that the pattern of temperature distribution in oats varied with the nature of the day. On a clear and calm day temperature decreased progressively from ground surface upto a height of 5 feet, while on a cloudy and windy day when radiant energy for heating was low and turbulent mixing was strong, temperatures were relatively unaffected. Many workers have reported that the temperature near the ground varies with weather conditions and tissue. Luff (1965) at U.K. reported that in clear surface the temperature near the ground in a tall grass was less variable than in9

shorter grass and the range of diurnal variation was less in winter than in summer. There were only slight differences in temperature between different types of grasses. He also reported that the variation in relative humidity between the different types of grasses were greatest in fine weather. In early summer, there were large difference in saturation deficit between the tussocks and the intervening grass. Lowery (1970) at New York reported that both day and night temperature extremes are most likely found at the ground surface and also temperature gradient is greater near the ground during both day and night because soil surface is the most active heat exchanger in the soil-air system. He also observed that profiles of moisture in the lower layers of the atmosphere and crop communities may be quite different in different environment as well as different times in the same environment. In addition, the profile depends upon the measure of moisture being used. The magnitude and the distribution of temperatures in crop canopies depend on many factors. Baumgartner (1973) at Munchen (France) reported that the vertical temperature distribution within crop stands is governed mainly by the heat emitted in the conversion of radiation inside the canopy and by this transfer of heat by vertical air movements in naturally closed stands the maximum temperature is generally observed in the upper light canopy while in less dense stands there may be a secondary maximum at the earth's surface. Kalma and Stanbill (1972) at the Volcani Institute of Agriculture Research Bet Dagan (Israel) measured relative humidity at equivalent heights both in a climate station out side the mature orange orchard and above the tree canopy at the experimental orchard site. They reported almost constant 8 per cent higher relative humidity of the air above the canopy. Similarly, Hosker et al. (1974) at USA studied the diurnal variation of the vertical thermal structure of a loblolly pine plantation and reported that on a clear day a very unstable temperature gradient occurred above the trees, while a strong inversion (about 8C) developed below the crowns. At night the sub-crown region10

became weekly unstable, but the atmospheric layer above the trees was stable. On a clear day, the strength of the temperature inversion beneath the tree crowns was less than 1C. Frequently large temperature gradients occur in the horizontal because of topography (slope and relief can affect the solar radiation received per unit area and the mixing due to wind), local obstacles (tree, buildings, etc.) and surface changes (Partition of radiant energy between latent heat of evaporation and sensible heat and surface roughness which effect wind flow). In addition to vertical and horizontal temperature gradients, the eddy structure of the atmosphere causes large temperature fluctuations over short periods of times at a given level. Except for eddy transport measurements and possibly a few other spatial measurements, fast response temperature measurements are of doubtful values. Temperatures averaged over a few minutes and longer are usually desired and most temperature refer to as time averaged temperature. Even though a thermometer may be read at a given time, the reading is representative of a period related to the time constant of the thermometer. Joshi (1983) at Akola, Maharashtra observed that relative humidity was highest at the bottom of crop canopy and decreased gradually with increase in canopy height. Highest yields were obtained with maximum accumulation of heat units, sunshine hours and relative humidity during panicle emergence to maturation period which is critical for grain production in sorghum. The experiment was conducted on a waukegan silty loam soil where stress difference between irrigated and non-irrigated alfalfa canopy temperature (CT) and evapotranspiration (ET) served as indicators of stress and were measured using on infrared thermometer and protable chamber, respectively. Canopy temperature and ET did not differ appreciably between irrigated and non-irrigated alfalfa in early morning, but after 0900 hr and throughout the afternoon, non-irrigated alfalafa had a higher CT and lower ET (Sharratt et al., 1983) at Wisdon. Lee et al. (1984) at Korea found the difference in micrometeorological changes in the rice plant canopy at different growing stages. The vertical

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distribution of temperature in the canopies showed that air temperature at 10 cm height from the ground was higher than at 30 cm height. Ozdemir, (1996) at Turkey observed that germination percentage and rate of germination were rapid at 20C and were progressively delayed as temperature decreased. Forty chickpea (desi and kabuli) cultivar were sown in November and December in New Delhi. Delayed sowing decreased seed yield. The kabuli types were more sensitive to temperature than desi types (Yadav et al., 1998). A field experiment conducted at Almora, Chandra et al. (2002) observed that the effect of irrigation levels and canopy temperature on potato (Solanum tubersoum L.). The yield increased significantly upto IW:CPE 1.50 and canopy temperature was 252.5C, which recorded the highest tuber yield. Sattar et al. (2003) in Pantnagar characterized the variability of temperature and humidity within wheat crop canopy at height of 0.60 m to 1.25 m. The temperature profiles showed an inversion up to height of 0.60 m by 09.30 hr which continued till the afternoon (15.30 hr). Above this height, normal lapse conditions prevailed. A sharp decrease in relative humidity with height and day time towards the afternoon was observed. The humidity profiles, thus, reflect the influence of corresponding temperature inversions on its distribution with height in the wheat crop canopy at different growth stages. Rao et al. (2004) at Hyderabad, A.P. reported that canopy temperature was higher than the air temperature and relative humidity was lower in crop canopy than the atmosphere. High temperature is one of the important abiotic stresses limiting chickpea productivity. A field experiment was conducted in New Delhi, India during 200203 to study the effect of temperature on crop growth rate in chickpea genotypes, namely Pusa 256, Pusa 372, BGD 72 (released cultivars) and DG 36, DG 46 and DG 51 (advance lines) growth under different planting dates. The minimum requirement of GDD was recorded in DG 36. In general, the advance lines under

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study required less accumulated heat units compared to the released cultivars (Singh et al., 2005). Result revealed the temperature increases from normal in December and January affected the phonological development of wheat by advancing the anthesis stage and there by reducing the duration of tillering phase while in February it reduced duration of grain formation (Kaur et al., 2007) in Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. 2.2 Studies on growth, development and yield attributes of chickpea Singh and Malhotra (1973) at Ludhiana, Punjab obtained a significant and positive association of yield with clusters per plant, pods per plant and number of secondary branches. Sengupta and Roy (1979) at Pulses and Oil Seeds Researach Station, Berhampore, W.B. reported that the percentage of pod setting in chickpea was, to some extent, inversely related to relative humidity in February and the pod setting was not related to temperature and was not influenced by the number of sunshine hours. Saxena (1980) studies the number of days taken to flower initiation and pod set in 15 desi (small seeded) and kabuli (large seeded) chickpea cultivars grown at Hissar, and found that a low minimum temperature (10C) was a major factor preventing the pod set from perfect flower. Singh et al. (1981) conducted an experiment during rabi season of 1975-76 and 1976-77 with four sowing dates (Oct. 10, Oct. 25, Nov. 9 and Nov. 24) at Hisar and found that Oct. 10 sown crop attained maximum height during both the years and differences were significant as compared to Nov. 24 sown crop in first year and Nov. 9 and Nov. 24 sown crop in second year. Selvaraj et al. (1981) at Coimbatore, T.N. reported that harvesting the crop 130-135 days after sowing gave higher yields than when harvested earlier in red gram.

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Sethi et al. (1981) at Hyderabad reported that in all the cultivar of chickpea flower initiation was started 32-35 days after sowing in contrast to 32-74 days taken for 50 per cent flowering under normal days length. Islam et al. (1982) at Bangaladesh reported that the average yield of chickpea (4.6 g/plant) was positively correlated with number of pods per plant and seed weight and negatively correlated with height of plant. Joshi (1983) at Akola, Maharashtra reported that highest yields were obtained with maximum accumulation of heat units, sunshine hours and relative humidity during panicle emergence to maturation period. Tripathi and Singh (1985) from a study carried out at Crop Research Station, NDUAST, Mirapur on chickpea with three dates of sowing (Oct. 25, Nov. 5 and Nov. 20) reported that highest grain yield for three varieties was obtained from Nov. 5 crop and yields were considerably reduced in all varieties in the latest sowing date. Summerfiled et al. (1987) at Patancheru, A.P. reported that photoperiod has been considered to have the most significant effect of flowering in chickpea. But wherever studies have been sufficiently extensive, major effect of temperature on flowering have been noted. Irrespective of species, there are large genetic differences in relative sensitivity to photoperiod and/or temperature. In quantitative long-day legumes, such as chickpea, vernalization can also hasten flowering in sensitive genotypes. Yadav et al. (1989) of Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad concluded that sowing dates significantly affect the grain yield and straw yield. They obtained maximum yield on Oct. 20 sown crop which was at par with Oct. 30 sown crop in respect to grain and straw yield in first year while in second year Oct. 20 sowing out performed the Oct. 30 sowing in respect of grain yield by 4.5 per cent. They concluded that sowing of chickpea beyond Nov. 15 gave reduced yield. Singh et al. (1990) of Hisar reported that closer row spacing of 20 cm produced significantly more grain yield than wider row spacing of 30 cm.14

Dixit et al. (1993) of Powerkheda reported that chickpea sown on Oct. 26 and Nov. 16 proved to be the best period for obtaining maximum number of branches per plant. While working with newly developed chickpea varieties and row spacing (39 and 45 cm) at Hisar, Singh et al. (1994) reported that wider row spacing of 45 cm resulted in significantly higher grain yield (1702 kg/ha) straw yield (6303 kg/ha) and number of pods per plant (44.60). They also reported that in general wider row spacing gave 9.7 per cent more yield than narrow spacing and it was attributed to increased number of pods per plant (14.3%) and grain size (3.4%) under wider row spacing. Ozdemir (1996) at Turkey showed that germination was decreased with increased temperature. Yadav et al. (1998) observed that delayed sowing decreased seed yield. Kabuli type were more sensitive to temperature than desi types. Jadhav and Pawar (1999) of Rahuri, Maharashtra reported that the yield contributing characters viz., number of pods per plant, number of grains per pod, grain yield per plant and 1000-grain weight were relatively higher in 30 10 cm2 and 45 67 cm2 spacing than that of 45 10 cm2. Significantly higher grain (2.93 t/ha) and straw yield (3.49 t/ha) were obtained with 30 10 cm2 spacing, followed by 45 6.67 cm2 spacing. Anwar et al. (2003) found that the canopy development, radiation absorption and its utilization for biomass production in response to irrigation at different growth stages of three kabuli chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars was studied on a wakanui silt loath soil in Canterbury, New Zealand. Averaged over the 2 years, irrigation increased seed yield by 74-124 per cent. Full irrigation from emergence to physiological maturity always gave the highest seed yield. 2.3 Evapotranspiration (ET) : definition and process The crop evapotranspiration (ET) is an important factor in irrigation scheduling. Evapotranspiration dominates the water balance and controls15

hydrological phenomena as soil moisture content, ground water recharge and stream flow. Though evaportranspiration is necessary for the growth of plants, it is usually viewed as a loss from the water budget. Much attention has been given to methods of reducing this loss in order to maximize water use efficiency in agricultural systems. As the value of water increases, planners should be aware of the technical issues involved in manipulating vegetation for crop yield. For this reason and because of the tremendous importance of irrigation in many rural planning schemes, literature on various aspects of evapotranspiration has been reviewed as follows : Evapotranspiration is defined as the quantity of water transpired by the plants during their growth or retained in the plant tissue, plus the moisture evaporated from the surface of the soil and the vegetation. The term water requirement (WR) of crops has been widely used in the literature to designate the quality yield pattern of crops, in a given period of time for its normal growth under field condition at a location. According to Michael et al. (1977) water requirement includes the losses due to evapotranspiration plus the losses during application of irrigation water and the quantity of water required for special operations such as land preparation, puddling for transplanting rice etc. The term evapotranspiration is used to describe the total process of water transfer into the atmosphere from vegetative and land surfaces (Rosenberg, 1974). 2.3.1 Factors affecting evaportranspiration The fundamental principle of evaporation was quoted by Resenberg (1974). He stated that evaporation is a function of difference in the vapour pressure of the water and vapour pressure of the air, Penman (1948, 1963) stated that potential evapotranspiration is largely controlled by water and vegetation and soil factors play only a minor role. Marlatt et al. (1961) showed that with decreasing soil moisture availability, the rate of ET was reduced below the PET. Stanhill (1965) at UNESCO and El-Nadi and Hudson (1965) at Sudan showed that the quantities of water evaporated from crop canopy increase with16

increasing crop height. Burn et al. (1972) showed that the proportion of water lost as transpiration was closely related to leaf area index of soybean and sorghum. Balogun (1974) studied the influence of some climatic factors on evaporation and PET at Ibadan (Nigeria) and reported that the net solar radiation and mean air temperature were highly correlated with evaporation and PET. Folegatti et al. (2000) at Visconsin, USA demonstrated weighing type lysimeter in greenhouse and reported that the net radiation and mean air temperature better estimated the evapotranspiration in greenhouse. Merta et al. (2001) at German reported that the plant physiology methods are important for the understanding of the complex transpiration process. 2.3.2 Water use by chickpea and factors affecting it Dhonde and Patil (1986) concluded that highest yield involved 4-5 irrigations at intervals of about 25 days depending on rainfall and water use efficiency was highest with irrigation 8 cm deep and an IW: CPE ratio of 0.45. Singh and Singh (1990) at Hissar reported that both total dry matter production and seed yield responses of chickpeas to water management can be predicted if the normalized ET during the season is known. Tripathi (1992) at Pantnagar concluded that the variations in the crop coefficient due to 3 water tables were almost equal to the variation between 2 consecutive day values over 3 years (1982/83-1984/85). The crop coefficient of chickpea, pea and lentil was more dependent on canopy growth characteristics than on the water table. Kaushik and Chaubey (1999) of G.B.P.U.A.&T., Research Station, Ujhani Badaun, UP showed that two irrigation at branching and pod filling stage in chickpea gives the maximum grain yield and the maximum water use efficiency was recorded with one irrigation at branching. Multiseasonal irrigation experiments were examined in four locations of the piedmont and low land in the region of the north China and a crop water stress sensitivity index, the relationship between seasonal evapotranspiration (ET) and17

yield and crop water production functions were developed by relating relative yield to relative ET deficit, the crop was more sensitive to water stress (Zhang et al., 1999). Merta et al. (2001) at German reported that the plant physiology methods are important for the understanding of the complex transpiration process. Singh and Prasad (2001) at Kota in case of chickpea, the ET was observed 418 mm crop yielded 4175 kg ha-1 grain and 9513 kg ha-1 total dry matter with WUE of 10.10 kg ha-1 mm-1 for grain and 22.85 kg ha-1 mm-1 for total dry matter. The average weekly ET was