The present study was conducted to improve the managing of the irrigation regime to develop agriculture to be more efficient and sustainable. As the main scope of the study was to investigate the overall effect of deficit irrigation and planting methods on wheat yield and some water relations in North Nile Delta. Wheat was grown in an experimental field at Sakha Agricultural Research Station, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate(31° 05' N latitude and 30° 56' E longitude), Egypt. The treatments were arranged in a split-split plot design with four replicates. The main treatments were three planting methods of basin, furrow and bed. The sub-treatments were four levels of N fertilizer i. e. 60, 75, 90 and 105 kg nitrogen fed.-1 . The sub-sub treatments were assigned by three levels of soil moisture depletion namely: 45, 60 and 75 % depletion of available water(AW). The main results in this study can be summarized as follows:
1- The highest and lowest average values of the wheat grain yield(2791 and 2698 kg fed.-1), water productivity WP (2.12 and 1.95 kg m-3) and irrigation water productivity IWP(1.45 and 1.17 kg m-3) were achieved with the bed and flat planting methods, respectively during the 1st growing season. The bed planting method increased water productivity(WP) and irrigation water productivity (IWP) by 8.71 and 23.9%, respectively compared to the basin planting method for the soil moisture depletion of 45% during the1st growing season. The 2nd growing season had the same previous trend
2- The bed planting method accomplished the lowest average values of irrigation water applied(1973 and 1983 m3fed.-1) and water consumptive use (1332 and 1335 m3fed.-1) while, the highest average values of irrigation water applied(2395 and 2409 m3fed.-1) and water consumptive use (1437 and 1442 m3fed.-1) were given with the basin planting method for soil moisture depletion of 45% in the two growing seasons. Using the bed planting method saved about 17.6% of irrigation water applied compared to the basin planting method.
3- The soil moisture depletion of 45% recorded the highest average values of wheat grain yield(2942 and 2969 kg fed.-1), WP (2.13 and 2.14 kg m-3) and IWP(1.36 and 1.36 kg m-3) while, the soil moisture depletion of 75% attained the lowest average values of wheat grain yield(2551 and 2574 kg fed.-1), WP (1.93 and 1.94 kg m-3) and IWP(1.25 and 1.28 kg m-3) during the 1st and 2nd growing seasons, respectively. However, deficit irrigation (irrigating the wheat crop at depletion 45% of available water) increased wheat grain yield, water productivity and irrigation water productivity by 15.3, 10.4 and 8.8% compared to irrigating the wheat crop at depletion 75% of available water.
4- Application of 90 kg N fed.-1 for wheat crop achieved the highest average values of wheat grain yield(3136 kg fed.-1), WP (2.28 kg m-3) and IWP(1.46 kg m-3) for 1st growing season. Application of 90 kg N fed.-1 for wheat crop achieved the highest average values of wheat grain yield(3136 kg fed.-1), WP (2.28 kg m-3) and IWP(1.46 kg m-3) for 1st growing season, whereas the minimum average values of wheat grain yield in the two growing seasons were obtained with the lower applications of N fertilizer level (60 and 75 kg fed.-1).
5- It is recommended to use the bed planting method and application of 90 kg N fed.-1 in addition to irrigation of the wheat crop at depletion 45% of available water to obtain the highest values of wheat grain yield, water productivity (WP) and irrigation water productivity (IWP) in addition to save about 16.9 % of irrigation water applied.