Articles
ROOT WATER ABSORPTION PATTERN IN A PROCESSING TOMATO CROP UNDER DIFFERENT IRRIGATION STRATEGIES
Article number
537_100
Pages
839 – 845
Language
English
Abstract
Processing tomato is an economically important crop in the Extremadura region of Spain and its future success will be dependent upon the optimization of production inputs to guarantee crop profitability.
Under the semiarid conditions typical of this region, irrigation is one of the most important agronomic factors to insure the success of tomato production.
An irrigation management strategy that utilizes regulated deficit irrigation may be a viable option to improve irrigation water use efficiency.
An experiment was carried out in a field in the Guadiana River Valley (Southwest Spain). Processing tomato (cv.
Brigade) was planted in a loam soil to test three irrigation treatments: T1, real-time irrigation scheduling (using daily crop evapotranspitration (ETc) estimates); T2, deficit irrigation during the fruit growing and ripening period and T3, irrigation according to the local growers practices.
Soil water content and crop water status was monitored along the crop cycle.
Differences among treatments in soil water content in the root zone were found in agreement with corresponding differences in the amount of irrigation water applied.
T1 and T3 treatments showed a continuous increase in soil water reserves indicating the water applied exceeded crop water uptake.
This was particularly evident in T1 because this treatment received that largest amount of irrigation water.
A continuous reduction in soil water content during the deficit irrigation period (from 100 fruit set to harvest) was observed in T2. Althought T1 had the higher soil water content in the root zone throughout the growing season, it often had the worse crop water status, probably due to water-logging problems. We found that the FAO method of estimating real-time crop water use overestimated crop water uptake under our experimental conditions.
Under the semiarid conditions typical of this region, irrigation is one of the most important agronomic factors to insure the success of tomato production.
An irrigation management strategy that utilizes regulated deficit irrigation may be a viable option to improve irrigation water use efficiency.
An experiment was carried out in a field in the Guadiana River Valley (Southwest Spain). Processing tomato (cv.
Brigade) was planted in a loam soil to test three irrigation treatments: T1, real-time irrigation scheduling (using daily crop evapotranspitration (ETc) estimates); T2, deficit irrigation during the fruit growing and ripening period and T3, irrigation according to the local growers practices.
Soil water content and crop water status was monitored along the crop cycle.
Differences among treatments in soil water content in the root zone were found in agreement with corresponding differences in the amount of irrigation water applied.
T1 and T3 treatments showed a continuous increase in soil water reserves indicating the water applied exceeded crop water uptake.
This was particularly evident in T1 because this treatment received that largest amount of irrigation water.
A continuous reduction in soil water content during the deficit irrigation period (from 100 fruit set to harvest) was observed in T2. Althought T1 had the higher soil water content in the root zone throughout the growing season, it often had the worse crop water status, probably due to water-logging problems. We found that the FAO method of estimating real-time crop water use overestimated crop water uptake under our experimental conditions.
Authors
M.H. Prieto, M.M. Lavado, M.J. Moñino, M.I. García
Keywords
Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., trickler irrigation, deficit irrigation, evapotranspiration.
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