Irrigation Water Management in Dalbergia sissoo during its Establishment in the Indian Desert

A field experiment was conducted in Indira Gandhi Nahar Project area of the Indian desert to find out optimum schedule and suitable method of irrigation for raising irrigated plantations of Dalbergia sissoo. Various treatments were comprised of three methods (Flooding, Spot and Furrow), three frequencies (20-40-60 days for winter, 10 -20-30 days for monsoon and 7 - 15 and 22 days interval for summer months) and three quantities (30,45 and 60 mm) of irrigation. Observations on growth and biomass of 14 months old plantation indicate that spot method of irrigation produced the best initial growth of plantation with 45 mm of water added at the interval of 10 days in summer, 20 days in monsoon and 30 days in winter mouths. This treatment resulted in trees of 162 cm average height producing total biomass of 27.4 q/ha for 14 month old plantation of Dalbergia sissoo. The water use efficiency due to this treatment was 12.2 kg/mm which was maximum as compared to all other treatments.