Irrigation Water Management for Sunflower Production at North Nile Delta Soils

WO field experiments were conducted at El-Karada water management station, Kafr El- Sheikh Governorate, Egypt
management station, Kafr El- Sheikh Governorate, Egypt
during two successive summer seasons 2008 and 2009, to study the
effect of irrigation water management for sunflower production
through irrigation escaping of some irrigation events, during the
growth season on yield, yield components and quality of sunflower
crop. Randomized complete block design with three replications was
used. The irrigation treatments included five treatments, conventional
irrigation along the growing season every 15 days (T1), escaping
irrigation at the age of 30 days from sowing = 3rd irrigation (T2),
escaping irrigation at the age of 45 days from sowing = 4th irrigation
(T3), escaping irrigation at the age of 60 days from sowing = 5th
irrigation (T4) and escaping irrigation at the age of 75 days from
sowing = 6th irrigation (T5).
The highest values of seed yield, oil percent, oil yield and 100
seed weight were obtained under T4 as well as the highest net return
of water unit and economic efficiency. Therefore, escaping
sunflower irrigation at the age of 60 days from sowing (the 5th
irrigation) could be recommended to maximize sunflower production
under the condition of studied area.