Effect of Limited Supplemental Irrigation on Flour Yield of Bread Wheat in Konya Region

Limited rainfall during the growing season negatively affects yield and quality values of bread wheat grown under semiarid climate conditions in Konya Plain. Irrigation is a must for optimum grain yield and quality production. However, water resources are quite limited in the region and therefore water-saving irrigation strategies are needed. For this purpose, a two-year field experiment was conducted in Konya to determine the effects of different supplemental irrigation strategies based on critical development stages (Stem elongation, heading and milk stage) of bread wheat on flour yield of wheat. The experiment consisted of a total of 13 plots, one of which was non-irrigated (rainfall), three of which were dependent on soil moisture and nine of which were applied fixed amounts (50, 70 and 90 mm) of irrigation water. The results obtained showed that the highest flour yields were obtained from the applications where wheat was irrigated during the three critical development stages and the lowest flour yield was obtained from the application based on rainfall. It was determined that supplemental irrigation strategies had a significant effect on wheat flour yield, but there was no significant difference between the flour yields of 321 mm (71.2%) and 150 mm (70.3%) irrigation applications. The results of this experiment showed that optimum flour yield in wheat could be achieved with deficit supplemental irrigation, where 50 mm of irrigation water was applied in each stage instead of full irrigation, and 150 mm in total, during the stages of wheat stem elongation, heading and milk stage.