Adopting a strategic approach to dormant seeding and initial soil water management for rainfed lentil agroecosystems

Abstract The initial soil water (ISW) content and dormant seeding management (DSM) also resulted in better use of precipitation and escape from the heat and drought stresses in late spring and early summer. However, the effect of initial soil water content under DSM as an adaptation option on crop yield has not been fully evaluated, especially in developing countries. We aimed to assess sowing date and ISW on yield of lentil cultivars in 37 selected locations representing six arid and semi-arid agro-climates in Iran. We utilized the SSM-Legume model to quantify the sensitivity of lentil production to ISW and sowing date. Our results showed that the ISW creates the early appearance of stress on late-sown lentil, while DSM1 (dormant seeding around 20 December) of lentil conserved higher soil water throughout the crop growth period. On the other hand, DSM1 and short cycle cultivar explored a higher amount of soil water and thus increasing the productivity. Hence, to minimize the effect of soil water stress in lentil rainfed agroecosystems, the best management combination of a short-cycle cultivar, DSM1, and an ISW ranges from 32 up to 52 mm produced the highest grain yield over all studied agro-climate types (779–605 kg ha −1 ) due to lower plant water stress. Improving total production can be especially effective in arid and semi-arid areas. These results can offer advice to farmers and decision-makers in enhancing rainfed lentil production in arid and semi-arid agroecosystems by managing soil water and DSM.