Sept 10 – 16 2006, PWTC, Kuala Lumpur

EFFECT OF EXTENT AND DEGREES OF WATERLOGGING ON GROWTH

OF RAPESEED (BRASSICA NAPUS L.)

M.R. Yazdani1 M. Parsinejad2

ABSTRACT

Major parts of agricultural lands in the Northern Iran are under the production of rice. The
basic constraint for introduction of second crops in these lands, despite the favorable climate,
is the limitation on drainage of such conventional paddy fields. If this limitation was overcome,
rapeseed, because of its economical value has proved to be an excellent choice for the second
crop. In this study, degree, extent and duration of imposed waterlogging were examined on
growth and yield of Rapeseed (PF 1045 cultivar). Results of this study could illustrate the
degree of drainage needed for optimum production of rapeseed.

Perforated plastic pots, filled with paddy soils, were planted with PF Rapeseed. Putting the
pots into larger water-filled containers, four levels of submergence (-10. -5, 0 and +5cm)
were imposed for four different time periods (2, 5, 7 and 10-day), and at three growth stages
(seedling growth, flowering and grain filling). The experiment was conducted in complete
block design in three replicates, adding to (4*4*3*3=) 144 pots along with 6 controlled,
summing to a total of 150 pots. Number of plants in each pot were thinned to five after they
were established. To insure proper drainage during the non-submergence periods, the pots
were perforated and a thin layer of sand was place at the bottom. A piezometer was placed
at the center of each pot to observe the level of water submergence. Various plant characteristics,
such as plant height, number of branches, length and number of pods, 1000-grain weight
were recorded and the mean values were compared within different treatments. Submergence
of water (especially at +5 cm and for periods of 7 and 10 days) had a significant effect on
the various growth indices. Extension of waterlogging from 2 to 10 days decreased the yield
by 19.2%, whereas each additional day of waterlogging resulted in lowering the yield by
0.94 gram. Maximum and minimum yield was related to the case when water table was kept
at -10 cm and 0 cm, respectively. Rapeseed was most sensitive to submergence during the
seedling growth stage. No significant differences were observed on the number of branches
and length of pods. The result of this study stresses the needs of drainage for improved
production of rapeseed.

Keywords: rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), waterlogging, drainage, growth, grain yield

1
Researcher, National Rice Research Institute, Rasht, Iran
2
Corresponding Author, Asst Professor, Dept of Irrigation and Reclamation Eng., University of Tehran
(masoudparsi@yahoo.com)

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 3rd Asian Regional Conference

EFFECT OF EXTENT AND DEGREES OF WATERLOGGING ON

GROWTH OF RAPESEED (BRASSICA NAPUS L.)

M.R. Yazdani1 M. Parsinejad2

ABSTRACT

Major parts of agricultural lands in Northern Iran are under production of rice. The basic
constraint for introduction of second crops in these lands, despite the favorable climate, is
the limitation on drainage of such conventional paddy fields. If this limitation was overcome,
rapeseed, because of its economical value has proved to be an excellent choice for the second
crop. In this study, degree, extent and duration of imposed waterlogging were examined on
growth and yield of Rapeseed (PF 1045 cultivar). Results of this study could illustrate the
degree of drainage needed for optimum production of Rapeseed.

Perforated plastic pots, filled paddy soils, were planted with PF Rapeseed. By inserting the
pots in larger water-filled containers, four levels of submergence (-10, -5, 0 and +5cm) were
imposed for four different time periods(2, 5, 7 and 10-day), and at three growth stages
(seedling growth, flowering and grain filling). The experiment was conducted in complete
block design in three replicates, adding to (4*4*3*3=) 144 pots along with 6 controlled,
summing to a total of 150 pots. Plants were thinned to five plants per pot after they were
established. To insure proper drainage during the non-submergence periods, the pots were
perforated and a thin layer of sand was place at the bottom. A piezometer was placed at
the center of each pot to observe the level of water submergence. Various plant characteristics,
such as plant height, number of branches, length and number of pods, 1000 seed-weight
were recorded and the mean values were compared for different treatments. Submergence
of water (especially at +5 cm and for periods of 7 and 10 days) had a significant effect on
the various growth indices. Extension of waterlogging from 2 to 10 days decreased the yield
by 19.2%, whereas each additional day of waterlogging resulted in lowering the yield by
0.94 gram. Maximum and minimum yield was related to the case when water table was
kept at -10 cm and 0 cm, respectively. Rapeseed was most sensitive to submergence during
the seedling growth stage. No significant differences were observed on the number of branches
and length of pods. The results of this study stress the need of drainage for improved production
of rapeseed.

Keywords: rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), waterlogging, drainage, growth, grain yield

1
Researcher, National Rice Research Institute, Rasht, Iran
2
Corresponding Author, Asst Professor, Dept of Irrigation and Reclamation Eng., University of Tehran
(masoudparsi@yahoo.com)

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Introduction

About 230,000 hectares of paddy fields exist in Northern Province of Guilan in Iran. For an
average ownership of about 0.7 ha for each farmer, the income from rice production alone
would not bring enough income for a family. During the seven months of the off season period
rice fields can be put under cultivation of a second crop. Global experience shows that
production of beans, peanut, rapeseed respond well as a second crop to rice.

In our country and especially in Guilan, plans for introduction of second crop in paddy fields
have not been promising. In recent years production of rapeseed has been recommended by
the state government (Raheb, 2000). Production of rapeseed can have positive consequence
in reduction of oilseed import and its silage would be an excellent food supplement for livestock.

Because of the high amount of rainfall and also the flat basins, the prevalent limitation in
introduction of a second crop in paddy fields is waterlogging which stresses the need for land
drainage.

Waterlogging of field-grown plants can occur either when the surface of slowly permeable
soils is inundated or when the water-table rises so that part or the entire root zone is saturated
(Reicosky, 1985). The change in crop production is related to the indirect effect of water table
on soil aeration, available nutrient and soil moisture (Evans and Fausey, 1995). Flavio et al
(1996) studied the effects of waterlogging on the growth, nutrient absorption and yield of
rapeseed. They found that seed yield was affected by 3 or more days of waterlogging. They
also observed that the stage of development, during which waterlogging occurs, is an important
factor. Cannel and Bedford (1980) studied the effect of waterlogging and its duration on
production of canola. Their study showed that when water table remains near the soil surface,
especially during the early growing period, it significantly decreases the yield. Yazdani (2000)
studied different drainage combinations on rice fields and he found that surface drainage
with 4m spacing would result in highest yield for production of rapeseed in paddy fields.

The objective of this study was set to investigate the effect of drainage in production of rapeseed
and particularly to find the relation between the depth and duration of waterlogging during
different stages of growth in rapeseed production. The results of this study could be used in
determination of the extent of drainage needed at different stages of growth.

Materials and Methods

In this study effect of three different factors, namely depth of water table control at four levels
of +5, 0, -5 and -10 cm with respect to soil surface, and waterlogging duration at four levels
of 2, 5, 7 and 10 days, and three growing stages of vegetative growth, flowering and seed
formation were studied on the growth of rapeseed. The experiment was conducted in complete
block design in three replicates, adding to (4*4*3*3=)144 pots along with 6 controlled,
summing to a total of 150 pots. The study was done on PF 1045/97 cultivars of rapeseed
in plastic pots of 36cm diameters and 42cm heights (Fig.1). The pots which were filled with
paddy soils at the upper layer and a 5 to 10 cm of sand layer were placed at the bottom to

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prevent inundation. The physical and chemical properties of the soil are presented in Table
1. The pots were placed inside rice fields of the research center of Faculty of Agriculture of
University of Guilan in Rasht.

Fig.1. Schematic representation of the planting and controlling water table pots.

Table1. Physical and chemical properties of the paddy field soils used in the experiment.

The plastic pots were perforated at the sides and at the bottom to ensure flow of water into
and out of the pots. Control of water table was made by plunging the planted pots inside larger
water filled containers designed properly to control water tables at specified depths (Fig.1).
To monitor the possible fluctuation of water table, a 0.5 inch perforated PVC piezometer was
placed in the middle of the pots. Plants were thinned to five plants per pot after they were
established. Other cultivation requirements, such as fertilizilation and weed control, were
carried out accordingly. The following measurements were recorded and the mean values were
compared for different treatments: plant height, first pod distance from the soil surface, seed
production, thousand seed weight, dried plant weight, percentage of oil, branch counts and
number of pods in a plant. All measurements were statistically analyzed with SAS program.

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Results and Discussion:

The results of this study show that duration of waterlogging had a significant effect on plant
height. Extension of waterlogging from 2 to 10 days decreased the number of pods significantly.
Length of pods was also decreased significantly with increased stress. Increased waterlogging
duration affected the number of seeds per pod; specifically a 10 day inundation during the
third growing period decreased this value by 16%.

By increasing imposed submergence period from 2 to 10 days during 3 different growing

period, seed production was decreased by 8.2% 6.4% and 11.6% respectively (fig.2). This
shows that rapeseed is most sensitive to the stress during the 3rd growing period, or during
the seed formation. Duration of inundation had a significant effect on the height of the plant.
In addition increasing the inundation period from 2 to 10 days decreased the numbers of
buds significantly. This was evident from the fact that number of seeds per bud was decreased
by 16% as the length of stress increased to 10days.

Fig 2. Effect of duration of waterlogging during the 3 growing periods on seed production

Productions were affected by the depth of water table and increased length of stress. On the
average, increasing the length of inundation from 2 to 10 days during the 3 growing periods,
seed oil percentage were decreased by 4.91%, 7.25% and 6.27% respectively.

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Fig 3. Effect of duration of waterlogging during the 3 growing periods on seed oil percentage

Conclusions

In general, the following conclusions can be made from this study.

1. The three yield components namely, number of buds, number of seeds per bud and
1000-seed weight were all decreased by increasing the imposed waterlogging period
from 2 to 10 days, number of buds decreased by 13%, number of seeds per bud
decreased by 13% and 1000-seed weight decreased by 6% and yield was decreased
by 8.71% . These results indicated that the first two items had a more significant effect
on total yield.

2. Inundation stress of up to 2 days does not effect the seed production.

3. The 3rd growing period was found to be the most sensitive period to waterlogging.
Both total yield and yield characteristics were decreased more by the imposed stress
during this period.

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References

Evans, R.O. and N.R. Fausey. 1995. Effect of inadequate drainage on crop growth and yield.
In Agricultural Drainage. Edited by Skaggs and Schilfgaard.

Flavio H. Gutierrez Boem, Raúl S. Lavado and Claudia A. Porcelli. 1996. Note on the effects
of winter and spring waterlogging on growth, chemical composition and yield of
rapeseed. Field Crops Research, Volume 47, Issues 2-3, August 1996, Pages 175-
179

Reicosky, D. C., W. S. Meyer, N. L. Schaefer and R. D. Sides. 1985. Cotton response to short-
term waterlogging imposed with a water-table gradient facility. Agricultural Water
Management . Volume 10, Issue 2 , September 1985, Pages 127-143

Raheb, J. Gh. 2000. Second crop after Rice harvesting in Mazandaran province. 9th Annual
National Rice Symposium. Rasht, Iran (in Persian)

Yazdani, M.R. 2000. Comparison of type and spacing of surface drainage for production
of rapeseed as a second crop to Rice (case study: Guilan, Iran). National Rice Research
Institute. Rasht, Iran. (in Persian).