scholarly journals Adapting Root Distribution and Improving Water Use Efficiency via Drip Irrigation in a Jujube (Zizyphus jujube Mill.) Orchard after Long-Term Flood Irrigation

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1184
Author(s):  
Zhaoyang Li ◽  
Rui Zong ◽  
Tianyu Wang ◽  
Zhenhua Wang ◽  
Jinzhu Zhang

Jujube tree yields in dryland saline soils are restricted by water shortages and soil salinity. Converting traditional flood irrigation to drip irrigation would solve water deficit and salt stress. The root distribution reacts primarily to the availability of water and nutrients. However, there is little information about the response of jujube roots to the change from flood irrigation to drip irrigation. In this context, a two–year experiment was carried out to reveal the effects of the change from long–term flood irrigation to drip irrigation on soil water, root distribution, fruit yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) of jujube trees. In this study, drip irrigation amounts were designed with three levels, i.e., 880 mm (W1), 660 mm (W2), 440 mm (W3), and the flood irrigation of 1100 mm was designed as the control (CK). The results showed that replacing flood irrigation with drip irrigation significantly altered soil water distribution and increased soil moisture in the topsoil (0–40 cm). In the drip irrigation treatments with high levels, soil water storage in the 0–60 cm soil layer at the flowering and fruit setting, and fruit swelling stages of jujube trees increased significantly compared with the flood irrigation. After two consecutive years of drip irrigation, the treatments with higher irrigation levels increased root length density (RLD) in 0–60 cm soil depth but decreased that in the 60–100 cm depth. In the horizontal direction, higher irrigation levels increased RLD in the distance of 0–50 cm, while reducing RLD in the distance of 50–100 cm. However, the opposite conclusion was obtained in W3 treatment. Additionally, in the second year of drip irrigation, W2 treatment (660 mm) significantly improved yield and WUE, with an increasing of 7.6% for yield and 60.3% for WUE compared to the flood irrigation. In summary, converting flood irrigation to drip irrigation is useful in regulating root distribution and improving WUE, which would be a promising method in jujube cultivation in arid regions.

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pingfeng Li ◽  
Huang Tan ◽  
Jiahang Wang ◽  
Xiaoqing Cao ◽  
Peiling Yang

Although water-saving measures are increasingly being adopted in orchards, little is known about how different irrigation methods enhance water use efficiency at the root system level. To study the allocation of water sources of water absorption by cherry roots under two irrigation methods, surface irrigation and drip irrigation, oxygen isotope tracing and root excavation were used in this study. We found that different irrigation methods have different effects on the average δ18O content of soil water in the soil profile. The IsoSource model was applied to calculate the contribution rate of water absorption by cherry roots under these irrigation methods. During the drought period in spring (also a key period of water consumption for cherry trees), irrigation water was the main source of water absorbed by cherry roots. In summer, cherry roots exhibited a wide range of water absorption sources. In this case, relative to the surface irrigation mode, the drip irrigation mode demonstrated higher irrigation water use efficiency. After two years of the above experiment, root excavation was used to analyze the effects of these irrigation methods on the distribution pattern of roots. We found that root distribution is mainly affected by soil depth. The root system indexes in 10–30 cm soil layer differ significantly from those in other soil layers. Drip irrigation increased the root length density (RLD) and root surface area (RSA) in the shallow soil. There was no significant difference in root biomass density (RBD) and root volume ratio (RVR) between the two irrigation treatments. The effects of these irrigation methods on the 2D distribution of cherry RBD, RLD, RSA and RVR, which indicated that the cherry roots were mainly concentrated in the horizontal depths of 20 to 100 cm, which was related to the irrigation wet zone. In the current experiment, more than 85% of cherry roots were distributed in the space with horizontal radius of 0 to 100 cm and vertical depth of 0 to 80 cm; above 95% of cherry roots were distributed in the space with the horizontal radius of 0 to 150 cm and the vertical depth of 0 to 80 cm. Compared with surface irrigation, drip irrigation makes RLD and RSA more concentrated in the horizontal range of 30–100 cm and vertical range of 0–70 cm.


2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Wang ◽  
W. Liu ◽  
Q. Xue ◽  
T. Dang ◽  
C. Gao ◽  
...  

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of nitrogen (N) management on soil water recharge, available soil water at sowing (ASWS), soil water depletion, and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield and water use efficiency (WUE) after long-term fertilization. We collected data from 2 experiments in 2 growing seasons. Treatments varied from no fertilization (CK), single N or phosphorus (P), N and P (NP), to NP plus manure (NPM). Comparing to CK and single N or P treatments, NP and NPM reduced rainfall infiltration depth by 20–60 cm, increased water recharge by 16–21 mm, and decreased ASWS by 89–133 mm in 0–300 cm profile. However, crop yield and WUE continuously increased in NP and NPM treatments after 22 years of fertilization. Yield ranged from 3458 to 3782 kg/ha in NP or NPM but was 1246–1531 kg/ha in CK and single N or P. WUE in CK and single N or P treatments was < 6 kg/ha/mm but increased to 12.1 kg/ha/mm in a NP treatment. The NP and NPM fertilization provided benefits for increased yield and WUE but resulted in lower ASWS. Increasing ASWS may be important for sustainable yield after long-term fertilization.


2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-215
Author(s):  
AHMZ Ali ◽  
MK Rahman

An experiment was conducted in wooden boxes to evaluate water use efficiency, biomass production, nitrogen and potassium uptake and yield of tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) grown under flood irrigation (FI) and surface drip irrigation (SDI). Leaf area, leaf area index, biomass production and yield of tomato plants were significantly (P<0.05) higher in SDI than FI treatment. Biomass production (g/plant) was 53.3 and 42.2 and yield of tomato (kg/plant) was 1.27 and 0.99 in SDI and FI treatments, respectively. Surface drip irrigation increased water use efficiency (Kgm-3) of tomato plants by two fold (37.88) compared to flood irrigation ( 19.88). Significantly (P<0.05) higher concentrations of nitrogen in leaf (3.22%) and stem (2.62 %) were measured for tomato plants grown under SDI than FI (2.63 and 2.19 %). Potassium concentrations on the other hand, showed no significant differences. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jasbs.v38i2.15611 J. Asiat. Soc. Bangladesh, Sci. 38(2): 207-215, December 2012


HortScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Ved Parkash ◽  
Sukhbir Singh ◽  
Manpreet Singh ◽  
Sanjit K. Deb ◽  
Glen L. Ritchie ◽  
...  

Water scarcity is increasing in the world, which is limiting crop production, especially in water-limited areas such as Southern High Plains of the United States. There is a need to adopt the irrigation management practices that can help to conserve water and sustain crop production in such water-limited areas. A 2-year field study was conducted during the summers of 2019 and 2020 to evaluate the effect of deficit irrigation levels and cultivars on root distribution pattern, soil water depletion, and water use efficiency (WUE) of cucumber (Cucumis sativus). The experiment was conducted in a split-plot design with four irrigation levels [100%, 80%, 60%, and 40% crop evapotranspiration (ETc)] as main plot factor and two cultivars (Poinsett 76 and Marketmore 76) as subplot factor with three replications. Results showed that root length density (RLD) was unaffected by the irrigation levels in 2019. In 2020, the RLD was comparable between 100% and 80% ETc, and it was significantly higher in 100% ETc than both 60% Eand 40% ETc. Root surface area density (RSAD) was not significantly different between 100% and 80% ETc, and it was significantly lower in both 60% and 40% ETc than 100% ETc in both years. Soil water depletion was the highest in 40% ETc followed by 60% and 80% ETc, and it was least in 100% ETc in both years. Evapotranspiration (ET) was the highest in 100% ETc followed by 80%, 60%, and 40% ETc. The WUE was not statistically different among the irrigation treatments. However, numerically, WUE was observed in the following order: 80% ETc > 100% ETc > 60% ETc > 40% ETc. The RLD, RSAD, soil water depletion, and ET were not significantly different between ‘Poinsett 76’ and ‘Marketmore 76’. However, fruit yield was significantly higher in ‘Poinsett 76’ than ‘Marketmore 76’, which resulted in higher WUE in Poinsett 76. It can be concluded that 80% ETc and Poinsett 76 cultivar can be adopted for higher crop water productivity and successful cucumber production in SHP.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
S R Bhunia, I M Verma, M Arif

Field experiments were conducted during winter seasons of 2010–11 and 2011–12 at Bikaner (Rajasthan) to study the effect of bioregulators viz., TGA and N-acetyl cystein under different drip irrigation levels on yield, yield attributes, water use and water use efficiency of fenugreek. The highest plant height (69 cm) and yield attributes viz., branches plant-1 (7.6), pods plant-1 (46.3), pod length (13.5 cm), seed pod-1 (16) and test weight (12.7 g) were recorded with 100% ETc + TGA (200 ppm). Further, 80% ETc + TGA (200 ppm), and 100% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (both 10 and 20 ppm) and 100% ETc + TGA (both 100 and 200 ppm) produced comparable plant height. However, 80% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (both 10 and 20 ppm), 80% ETc + TGA (both 100 and 200 ppm), 100% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (both 10 and 20 ppm), 100% ETc + TGA (100 ppm) and 100% ETc + TGA (200 ppm) recorded at par branches plant-1, pods plant-1, pod length and test weight of fenugreek. Highest seed and biological yield of fenugreek were recorded with 100% ETc + Nacetyl cystein (20 ppm), which was at par with 100% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (10 ppm) and 100% ETc + TGA (both 100 and 200 ppm). Maximum water use recorded at 100% ETc with or without bioregulators, whereas maximum water use efficiency was recorded with 60% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (20 ppm) followed by 60% ETc + N-acetyl cystein (10 ppm).  


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Umair ◽  
Tabassum Hussain ◽  
Hanbing Jiang ◽  
Ayesha Ahmad ◽  
Jiawei Yao ◽  
...  

Groundwater plays a major role in agro-hydrological processes in the North China Plain (NCP). The NCP is facing a water deficit, due to a rapid decline in the water table because of the double cropping system. A two crop (maize and wheat) rotation is required to balance the food supply and demand, which leads to an imbalance between evapotranspiration (ET) and precipitation. Thus, there has been a decline of about 1.35 m yr−1 of groundwater (Luancheng Agroecosystem Experimental Station (LAES), NCP) during the last 10 years. Lysimeter experiments were conducted under different irrigation treatments (flood, surface drip, and subsurface drip) to account for ET in the selection of a suitable irrigation method. Subsurface drip irrigation reduced ET by 26% compared to flood irrigation, and 15% compared to surface drip irrigation, with significant grain yield and biomass formation due to decreased evaporation losses. Grain yield, yield components, and above ground biomass were similar in subsurface drip and flood irrigation. However, these biomass parameters were lower with surface drip irrigation. Furthermore, subsurface drip irrigation increased the crop water productivity (24.95%) and irrigation water productivity (19.59%) compared to flood irrigation. The subsurface irrigated plants showed an increase in net photosynthesis (~10%), higher intrinsic water use efficiency (~36%), lower transpiration rate (~22%), and saved 80 mm of water compared to flood irrigation. Our findings indicate that subsurface drip irrigation can be adopted in the NCP to increase water use efficiency, optimize grain yield, and minimize water loss in order to address scarcity.


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