Yield-compatible salinity level for growing cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) under mulched drip irrigation using saline water

A field experiment was conducted to test the suitability of growing sunflower undermulched drip irrigation with saline water in the HID (Hetao Irrigation District), North China. Theexperiment included five planting densities in which the plant spacing was 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 cmwith the same spacing (50 cm) between rows. The results indicated that mulched drip irrigationwith saline water was more water‐saving than traditional ground irrigation using fresh water, whilethe irrigation quota increased with the increase of planting density. Little difference of soilsalinization was found for the treatments in the 50–100 cm soil layer, which indicated that additionalmeasures should be taken for salt balance with saline water irrigation. The height and leaf area index(LAI) of sunflower increased in response to the increase of plant density, and the head dry mattertransferred to the stem at plant densities higher than 47,619 plants/hm2. Though the grain weightand 1000‐seed weight decreased with increasing plant density, the achene yield and biomassproduction increased. This research suggests that a plant spacing of 35 cm with 50 cm of row spacingis more suitable for sunflower mulched drip irrigation with saline water at concentrations of 3.0g∙L−1.

Download Full-text

Modeling salinity risk response to irrigation practices for cotton production under film mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2021.270 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Songrui Ning ◽

An Yan ◽

Beibei Zhou ◽

Quanjiu Wang

Keyword(s):

Precision Agriculture ◽

Drip Irrigation ◽

Saline Water ◽

Soil Salinization ◽

Soil Water Storage ◽

Cotton Production ◽

Irrigation Amount ◽

Saline Water Irrigation ◽

Risk Warning ◽

Mulched Drip Irrigation

Abstract Predicting the impacts of the irrigation amount (IA), water salinity (WS), and antecedent soil salinity (AS) on soil salinization, the crop yield, and water productivities (WPs) are important for precision agriculture. We used a calibrated HYDRUS − 2D model coupled with a validated crop water production function to quantitatively determine the response of a soil − cotton system to three factors (IA, WS, and AS) in 30 scenarios under film mulched drip irrigation. These scenarios included five IAs, two ASs, and three WSs. Under the same IA and WS, the transpiration, evapotranspiration, yield, and WPs were lower, whereas the evaporation, drainage, soil water storage, and leached salt were higher under higher AS (over the salt tolerance threshold of cotton) scenarios. Under lower AS scenarios, desalination processes (20.2 to 166.8 g m−2) occurred in freshwater (0.38 dS m−1) irrigation scenarios and salt accumulated (425.8 to 1,442.4 g m−2) in saline water (3.10 and 7.42 dS m−1) irrigation scenarios. Desalination processes (2,273.4 to 4,692 g m−2) occurred in the higher AS scenarios. Salinity risk warning should be the focus for cotton fields with lower AS and saline water irrigation. Our results may help to identify the salinity risk to support sustainable cotton production in Xinjiang.

Download Full-text