Onion Crop Response to Regulated Deficit Irrigation under Mulching in Dry Mediterranean Region

Abstract Enhancing water productivity for sustainable crop production and water savings represents a major challenge for agricultural water management. Pot experiments under open field conditions were conducted for two years, 2016 and 2017, to assess the effects of regulated deficit irrigation under mulch on onion crop production, following a 2 × 3 factorial experiment with two soil cover systems (wheat straw mulch and no-mulch) and three irrigation levels (100%, 80%, and 60% of crop evapotranspiration), with six replications.The results indicated that onion plants were responsive to straw mulching. Bulb diameter, total yield, dry matter, and water productivity were significantly enhanced under mulch whatever the irrigation level used. The seasonal crop water requirements also considerably decreased (about 33%). The results also showed the sensitivity of onion to water stress. Yield, dry matter, and water productivity were higher under full irrigation compared to the deficit irrigation. However, when mulch was used, regulated deficit irrigation highly significantly improved water productivity and onion crop quality and quantity; and this approach could be a promising management practice to meet water shortage consequences in the dry Mediterranean region.

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Yield and water productivity response of quinoa to various deficit irrigation regimes applied with surface and subsurface drip systems

The Journal of Agricultural Science ◽

10.1017/s0021859621000265 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-12

Author(s):

Y. Bozkurt Çolak ◽

A. Yazar ◽

A. Alghory ◽

S. Tekin

Keyword(s):

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Mediterranean Region ◽

Root Zone ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽

First Year ◽

Regulated Deficit Irrigation ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Subsurface Drip

Abstract This study evaluated the yield and water productiivty response of quinoa to regulated deficit irrigation (RDI), partial root-zone drying (PRD) and conventional deficit irrigation (DI) and full irrigation (FI) using surface ( SD ) and subsurface drip ( SSD ) systems in 2016 and 2017 in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. The treatments consisted of RDI, PRD50, DI50, DI75 and FI. A rainfed treatment (RF) was also included in the study. The experimental design was split plots with four replications. DI75 and DI50 received 75 and 50% of FI, respectively. PRD50 received 50% of FI, but from alternative laterals. RDI received 50% of FI during vegetative stage until flowering, and then received 100% of water requirement. The results showed that quinoa under SD used slightly more water than SSD due to reduced surface evaporation. RDI resulted in water saving of 23 and 21% for SD and SSD , respectively, compared to FI; and RDI produced statistically similar grain yields to FI. DI75 treatment resulted in water savings of 16% for both drip methods in the first year and 10 and 25% for SD and SSD systems, respectively, in the second year. PRD50 produced greater yield than DI50 eventhough they received the same amount of irrigation water. RF and PRD50 treatments resulted in significantly greater water productivity (WP) values than other treatments. There was no significant difference between SD and SSD regarding the grain and dry matter yields and WP values. Thus, RDI and DI75 appear to be good alternatives to FI for sustainable quinoa production in the Mediterranean region.

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High Nitrogen Fertilization Modulates Morpho-Physiological Responses, Yield, and Water Productivity of Lowland Rice under Deficit Irrigation

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11071291 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 1291

Author(s):

Nasr M. Abdou ◽

Mohamed A. Abdel-Razek ◽

Shimaa A. Abd El-Mageed ◽

Wael M. Semida ◽

Ahmed A. A. Leilah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nitrogen Fertilizer ◽

Irrigation Water ◽

Nitrogen Fertilization ◽

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Physiological Responses ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Water Shortage ◽

Rice Production ◽

Lowland Rice ◽

Nitrogen Fertilizers

Sustainability of rice production under flooding conditions has been challenged by water shortage and food demand. Applying higher nitrogen fertilization could be a practical solution to alleviate the deleterious effects of water stress on lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.) in semi-arid conditions. For this purpose, field experiments were conducted during the summer of 2017 and 2018 seasons. These trials were conducted as split-split based on randomized complete blocks design with soil moisture regimes at three levels (120, 100 and 80% of crop evapotranspiration (ETc), nitrogen fertilizers at two levels (N1—165 and N2—200 kg N ha−1) and three lowland Egyptian rice varieties [V1 (Giza178), V2 (Giza177) and V3 (Sakha104)] using three replications. For all varieties, growth (plant height, tillers No, effective tillers no), water status ((relative water content RWC, and membrane stability index, MSI), physiological responses (chlorophyll fluorescence, Relative chlorophyll content (SPAD), and yield were significantly increased with higher addition of nitrogen fertilizer under all water regimes. Variety V1 produced the highest grain yield compared to other varieties and the increases were 38% and 15% compared with V2 and V3, respectively. Increasing nitrogen up to 200 kg N ha−1 (N2) resulted in an increase in grain and straw yields by 12.7 and 18.2%, respectively, compared with N1. The highest irrigation water productivity (IWP) was recorded under I2 (0.89 kg m−3) compared to (0.83 kg m−3) and (0.82 kg m−3) for I1 and I3, respectively. Therefore, the new applied agro-management practice (deficit irrigation and higher nitrogen fertilizer) effectively saved irrigation water input by 50–60% when compared with the traditional cultivation method (flooding system). Hence, the new proposed innovative method for rice cultivation could be a promising strategy for enhancing the sustainability of rice production under water shortage conditions.

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Using saline reclaimed water on almond grown in Mediterranean conditions: deficit irrigation strategies and salinity effects

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2019.008 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (5) ◽

pp. 1413-1421 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Gaetano Alessandro Vivaldi ◽

Salvatore Camposeo ◽

Giuseppe Lopriore ◽

Cristina Romero-Trigueros ◽

Francisco Pedrero Salcedo

Keyword(s):

Tree Growth ◽

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Management Practices ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Maximum Yield ◽

Control Treatment ◽

Irrigation Season ◽

Regulated Deficit Irrigation ◽

Trunk Diameter ◽

Almond Trees

Abstract The main objective of this study was to acquire agronomic knowledge about the effects of irrigation with saline reclaimed (RW) and desalinated DESERT (DW) water and different irrigation strategies: control full irrigation (FI) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) on leaf nutrients, tree growth and fruit quality and yield of almond trees in pots. Our results showed that RW had the highest concentration of some valuable agronomic nutrients such as N, but also of phytotoxic elements (Na and Cl−). Na leaf concentration on RW treatments reached toxic levels, especially under RDI, and toxicity symptoms were shown. Regarding tree growth, cumulate trunk diameter on RW-RDI was significantly lower than on the control treatment and shoot growth was reduced from the beginning of the irrigation season in RW treatments. Maximum yield was reached on RW-FI, 18% higher than the control treatment. However, RDI strategies influenced negatively on yield, being 23% less in RW and 7% less in DW although water productivity was not significantly reduced by water stress. These findings manifest that the combination of RW and RDI can be a promising future practice for almond irrigation, but long-term studies to establish suitable management practices must be developed.

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Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Orange Trees to Different Deficit Irrigation Regimes

Plants ◽

10.3390/plants8100423 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (10) ◽

pp. 423 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Puglisi ◽

Nicolosi ◽

Vanella ◽

Piero ◽

Stagno ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Crop Production ◽

Root Zone ◽

Irrigation Season ◽

Regulated Deficit Irrigation ◽

Resistivity Tomography ◽

Micro Irrigation ◽

Response To Water ◽

Orange Trees ◽

Physiological And Biochemical

The article presents the results of research consisting of the application of deficit irrigation (DI) criteria, combined with the adoption of micro-irrigation methods, on orange orchards (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) in Sicily (Italy) during the irrigation season of 2015. Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI, T3) and partial root-zone drying (PRD, T4) strategies were compared with full irrigation (T1) and sustained deficit irrigation (SDI, T2) treatments in terms of physiological, biochemical, and productive crop response. A geophysical survey (electrical resistivity tomography, ERT) was carried out to identify a link between the percentages of drying soil volume in T4 with leaves abscisic acid (ABA) signal. Results highlight that the orange trees physiological response to water stress conditions did not show particular differences among the different irrigation treatments, not inducing detrimental effects on crop production features. ABA levels in leaves were rather constant in all the treatments, except in T4 during late irrigation season. ERT technique identified that prolonged drying cycles during alternate PRD exposed more roots to severe soil drying, thus increasing leaf ABA accumulation.

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Performance Evaluation of Sesame under Regulated Deficit Irrigation Application in the Low Land of Western Gondar, Ethiopia

International Journal of Agronomy ◽

10.1155/2020/3760349 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Sisay Ambachew Mekonnen ◽

Assefa Sintayehu

Keyword(s):

Deficit Irrigation ◽

Crop Production ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Irrigation Scheduling ◽

Growth Stages ◽

Crop Water ◽

Crop Water Productivity ◽

Moisture Deficit ◽

North Western ◽

Western Ethiopia

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is the leading oil seed crop produced in Ethiopia. It is the second most important agricultural commodity for export market in the country. It is well suited as an alternative crop production system, and it has low crop water requirement with moderate resistance to soil moisture deficit. The low land of North Western Ethiopia is the major sesame producer in the country, and the entire production is from rainfed. The rainfall distribution in North Western Ethiopia is significantly varied. This significant rainfall variability hampers the productivity of sesame. Irrigation agriculture has the potential to stabilize crop production and mitigate the negative impacts of variable rainfall. This study was proposed to identify critical growth stages during which sesame is most vulnerable to soil moisture deficit and to evaluate the crop water productivity of sesame under deficit irrigation. The performance of sesame to stage-wise and uniform deficit irrigation scheduling technique was tested at Gondar Agricultural Research Center (Metema Station), Northern Western Ethiopia. Eight treatments, four stage-wise deficit, two uniform deficit, one above optimal, and one optimal irrigation applications, were evaluated during the 2017 irrigation season. The experiment was designed as a randomized complete block design with three replications. Plant phenological variables, grain yield and crop water productivity, were used for performance evaluation. The result showed that deficit irrigation can be applied both throughout and at selected growth stages except the midseason stage. Imposing deficit during the midseason gave the lowest yield indicating the severe effect of water deficit during flowering and capsule initiation stages. When deficit irrigation is induced throughout, a 25% uniform deficit irrigation can give the highest crop water productivity with no or little yield reduction as compared with optimal irrigation. Implementing deficit irrigation scheduling technique will be beneficial for sesame production. Imposing 75% deficit at the initial, development, late season growth stages or 25% deficit irrigation throughout whole seasons will improve sesame crop water productivity.

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Luxury transpiration of winter wheat and its responses to deficit irrigation in North China Plain

Plant Soil and Environment ◽

10.17221/331/2018-pse ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 64 (No. 8) ◽

pp. 361-366 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Liang Yueping ◽

Gao Yang ◽

Wang Guangshuai ◽

Si Zhuanyun ◽

Shen Xiaojun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Deficit Irrigation ◽

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Experimental Period ◽

Water Shortage ◽

Full Irrigation ◽

Daily Transpiration

Reducing crop luxury transpiration is an important step in improving water productivity; water shortage regions are potential hotspots for studying physiological water conservation. This study investigated the amount of luxury transpiration in winter wheat and its responses to different irrigation treatments in North China Plain. The results showed that luxury transpiration existed and increased with growth of winter wheat and after rainfall. In each sampling day, the amount of luxury transpiration under full irrigation was significantly higher than that under deficit irrigation. The average amount of luxury transpiration was 258.87 g/m<sup>2</sup> under full irrigation, and 125.18 g/m<sup>2</sup> under deficit irrigation during the experimental period. Although the amount of luxury transpiration was 2.09-fold higher under full irrigation than that in deficit irrigation, the water loss ratio due to luxury transpiration in deficit irrigation (8.13%) was significantly higher than that in full irrigation (6.75%). Furthermore, the ratio between luxury transpiration amount and crop daily transpiration was revealed in all sampling dates. Therefore, deficit irrigation should be generalized in the water shortage area, because it can save irrigation water and reduce the amount of luxury transpiration. Full irrigation should be carried out in the water abundant region mainly for higher production.

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