Articles
The effect of water stress on tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) root system characteristics under pop-up sprinkler irrigation system
Article number
1190_15
Pages
89 – 94
Language
English
Abstract
Since the last few decades water crisis, drought and shortage of water resources are the major problems for development of green space, especially planting grass.
Deficit irrigation under modern irrigation systems is a special issue of irrigation landscape management.
This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of water stress on water productivity of tall fescue and root system characteristics under pop-up sprinkler irrigation system.
An experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three levels of water stress (W1=100%, W2=75% and W3=50% of crop water requirement) and three replications.
Results showed that there was a significant difference in crop water productivity between W1 and W3 treatments.
The highest and the lowest water productivity were observed in W3 and W1, respectively.
Root to shoot ratio increased significantly in 75% of water requirement but in terms of 50% water requirement this trait did not show any significant difference with the control.
Reducing the amount of irrigation water had no significant impact on dry matter production and the volume of root in two different soil depths (0-30 and 30-60 cm). Analysis of variance of root dry weight showed a significant difference between the treatments at 5% level of probability.
Reduction in irrigation water to 75% of full irrigation requirement increased root dry weight up to 57.38%. In general, considering tall fescue as tolerated grass to deficit irrigation and applying 75% water requirement revealed more appropriate treatment than other treatments, it is recommended to use this species of grass in arid and semi-arid region to optimize water use efficiency.
Deficit irrigation under modern irrigation systems is a special issue of irrigation landscape management.
This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of water stress on water productivity of tall fescue and root system characteristics under pop-up sprinkler irrigation system.
An experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three levels of water stress (W1=100%, W2=75% and W3=50% of crop water requirement) and three replications.
Results showed that there was a significant difference in crop water productivity between W1 and W3 treatments.
The highest and the lowest water productivity were observed in W3 and W1, respectively.
Root to shoot ratio increased significantly in 75% of water requirement but in terms of 50% water requirement this trait did not show any significant difference with the control.
Reducing the amount of irrigation water had no significant impact on dry matter production and the volume of root in two different soil depths (0-30 and 30-60 cm). Analysis of variance of root dry weight showed a significant difference between the treatments at 5% level of probability.
Reduction in irrigation water to 75% of full irrigation requirement increased root dry weight up to 57.38%. In general, considering tall fescue as tolerated grass to deficit irrigation and applying 75% water requirement revealed more appropriate treatment than other treatments, it is recommended to use this species of grass in arid and semi-arid region to optimize water use efficiency.
Authors
A. Rezaee, A.A. Ghaemi
Keywords
productivity, drought, grass, root traits, irrigation management
Online Articles (32)