Effect of Tillage and Mulching on Growth and Yield Performance of Barley under Different Nitrogen and Irrigation Application Rates

Background: Integrated management of soil, water and nutrient resources is critical in improving animal feed production sustainably as it is highly resource demanding. Barley is considered as an excellent choice for animal feed owing to its rich nutritional composition, energy content, palatability, versatility and economic feasibility. Implementing sustainable crop management practices that improve soil health as well as enhance water and nitrogen availability is critical for improving crop productivity and ensuring improved animal feed production in these challenging environments. In arid regions with scarce water resources and less fertile soil, an interplay between water availability and nitrogen fertilization plays a significant role in enhancing barley production. Thus adoption of conservation agricultural practices coupled with optimized irrigation and fertilization regime is crucial in establishing sustainable animal feed production in the region. However, much insight is not delivered in the area of interactive effects of irrigation and fertilization with conservational agricultural practices on sustainable intensification of animal feed production in arid and semi-arid lands. The study investigated the interactive effect of tillage, mulching, irrigation and nitrogen application rates on growth and yield performance of barley under Kuwait’s environmental conditions. Methods: The study was conducted at KISR Station for Research and Innovation-KSRI (29.3156°N, 47.8403°E), Kuwait. The effect of tillage and mulching on the growth and yield performance of barley was evaluated under combinations of three different irrigation (100% ETc, 75% ETc and 50% ETc) and fertilization application rates (0 kg/ha, 50 kg/ha and 100 kg/ha). Split-split plot experimental design was employed with three replications to study the effect of different treatments on plant height, number of plants per square meter, spike length, number of spikes per square meter, biomass yield, grain weight, harvest index and residue yield. Result: Tillage, mulching, irrigation and fertilization application rates imposed a significant interaction effect on barley biomass and grain yield. Minimum tilled plots with mulching under 100% ETc irrigation and 100 kgN/ha recorded the highest biomass and residue yield. For grain yield, minimum as well as conventional tillage with mulching produced the highest value under 100% ETc irrigation and 50 kgN/ha. Highest plant height and number of spikes per square meter was noted in plots with minimum tillage and mulching under 100% ETc irrigation.