Lentil production under supplemental irrigation in a Mediterranean environment

Lentil is a major winter-sown legume crop grown in the Mediterranean region, and has considerable importance as food, feed, and fodder. The crop’s high water demands coincide with the end of the rainy season. Thus, lentil often experiences considerable drought stress during reproductive development, which reduces yields. Limited supplemental irrigation (SI) can boost and stabilize productivity. The objective of this study was to elucidate the effect of limited irrigation and early sowing on yield and water productivity (WP) of lentil. An experiment was carried out over four cropping seasons (1996–2000) at ICARDA’s main station at Tel Hadya (Aleppo, northern Syria) where mean annual rainfall is 330 mm. A lentil cultivar (ILL 5883) was grown in rotation with wheat. The experiment included three sowing dates (early: mid November; normal: late December to mid January; and late: late January to mid February) and four levels of SI (full SI, 2/3 SI, 1/3 SI, and no SI).