Effect of deficit irrigation on drip-irrigated wheat grown in semi-arid conditions of Upper Egypt

Evolved in South Africa and released to market in 2009, the ‘African Rose’ plum has been introduced and grown under the Egyptian semi-arid conditions since 2010. Within that time, this cultivar has faced significant fruit quality issues, mainly poor color and low total soluble solids (TSS). Several trials using foliarly applied growth regulators have been conducted, but with little conspicuous results on fruit yield and quality. There is very limited information about the relationship between irrigation regime and fruit quality for this cultivar. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted to study the effect of deficit irrigation on the quality of the ‘African Rose’ plum during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Five-year-old hedge growing trees were subjected to three deficit irrigation regimes: 100% (control), 80%, and 60% of the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) after the pit hardening stage until the end of the harvest season (May to June period) were evaluated. Results indicated that deficit irrigation positively enhanced the levels of abscisic acid (ABA), total phenols, and anthocyanins with improved fruit TSS and maturity index, although fruit yield, acidity, size, and firmness were decreased. Deficit irrigation could be suggested as a sustainable novel solution to improve the fruit quality of the ‘African Rose’ plum grown under the semi-arid conditions of Egypt. Although the total yield and some quality characteristics were not improved, the early harvested fruit with enhanced color and taste could be a good start for additional research to solve other quality-related issues under such conditions.

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YIELD RESPONSE OF WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.) TO DEFICIT AND REGULATED DEFICIT IRRIGATION UNDER ARID/SEMI-ARID CONDITIONS

The Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences ◽

10.21162/pakjas/17.5395 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 54 (01) ◽

pp. 135-144

Author(s):

Wajid Ishaque

Keyword(s):

Triticum Aestivum ◽

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Triticum Aestivum L ◽

Yield Response ◽

Regulated Deficit Irrigation ◽

Arid Conditions ◽

Semi Arid

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Regulated deficit irrigation and tommy atkins mango orchard productivity under microsprinkling in brazilian semi arid

Engenharia Agrícola ◽

10.1590/s0100-69162011000600003 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 1052-1063 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Carlos E Cotrim ◽

Maurício A Coelho Filho ◽

Eugênio F Coelho ◽

Márcio M Ramos ◽

Paulo R Cecon

Keyword(s):

Water Potential ◽

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Soil Water Potential ◽

Field Capacity ◽

Stem Water Potential ◽

Regulated Deficit Irrigation ◽

Mango Tree ◽

Arid Conditions ◽

Stem Water ◽

Semi Arid

This study aimed to test controlled levels of water deficiency in soil in mango trees, under microsprinkling irrigation, in semi-arid conditions, and to evaluate its effect in the productivity and fruits quality. The deficits were applied in the phases I, II and III of growth of the fruit, during the productive cycles of the mango tree in 2006 and 2007. The experiment in both cases was arranged in an entirely random design with 10 treatments and 3 repetitions, in the year I, and with 8 treatments and 3 repetitions in the year II. The values of soil water potential, of the treatments submitted to regulated deficit irrigation (RDI), were placed in the range of 0 to -0.011 MPa, showing that the soil humidity varied between the saturation and the field capacity, not characterizing deficit water condition. The average values of stem water potential (Ψstem) varied between -0.90 and -1.74 MPa, evidencing significant effect (p <0.05) just for T1 (without irrigation), T7 and T8 (RDI with 30% of the ETc in the phases II and III, respectively). Through the variance analysis, significant differences were not verified among productivity, number of fruits per plant and size of the fruit, in none of the experiments, what indicates the possibility of reduction of the water use in the irrigation of the mango tree without significant losses of productivity and fruit quality.

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