Articles
STUDIES OF DRIP IRRIGATION IN YOUNG APRICOT ORCHARDS
Therefore, under such conditions, irrigation is needed to provide for the water requirements of the trees.
The studies described in the present paper tried to establish the ways of using drip irrigation in apricot trees grown on brown-reddish soil, so as to achieve optimum soil humidity and to save water, manpower and electric energy.
A special attention was given to the maximum use of the advantages of this method, that is the possibility of directing the soil-water-plant relationships in the desired direction and, thus, to obtain the most favourable effects on tree growth and fructification.
The results obtained throughout the world in this respect with different plant crops are promising and demonstrate that under given conditions there are still many aspects to be solved (Huguet, 1976; Gustafson, 1974; Rewitz and Hillel, 1974; Goldberg et al., 1976).
The experiments were conducted at the Fruit-Growing Research Station at Baneasa-Bucharest, on brown-reddish soil with following physical and hydro-physical characteristics: water-holding capacity — 24% of the dry soil weight, wilting coefficient — 12.70% of the dry soil weight, and volume weight — 1.21 t/m3. Following apricot cultivars were used : Best of Hungary and Large of Cenad, planted in 1977 at a spacing of 4 m on the row and 5 m between the rows.
The field was laid out for three drip irrigation variants : dripping with the “Triclon” dripper, with perforated tubing (Bas-Rhône-Languedoc procedure) and with the “mixed” procedure developed by one of the authors (Grumeza).
In the first two variants, water flows through plastic tubing, 18 and 25 mm in diameter, laid on each tree row.
The drippers are fixed two by two on one side and the other of the tree, at a total distance of 1.20 m, while for the second procedure the outlets are spaced evenly at 4 m along the tree rows.
As to the third procedure, the irrigation tubing is laid perpendicularly on the tree rows with a spacing of about 12 m.
Unlike the first two variants with the irrigation tubing laid either directly on the soil