Speaker
Description
1. Introduction
The availability and quality of water resources impose substantial constraints on crop production, particularly affecting arid and semi-arid regions. In the Mediterranean, the climate change driven increase of irrigation requirements by 2080 is estimated to exceed 70 % when taking population growth into consideration [1]. The development and implementation of improved irrigation technologies are acknowledged as vital measures for addressing these challenges.
Among these technologies, Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) stands out as particularly effective in delivering water and nutrients to plant roots. Unlike surface Drip Irrigation (DI), which is widely adopted globally, the utilization of SDI systems remains relatively uncommon. This is particularly noteworthy given the well-documented evidence derived from field research and practical applications in (semi-)arid regions, underscoring the considerable potential of SDI systems in enhancing plant water use efficiency [2]. However, the limited use of SDI systems emphasizes the need for careful adaptation of system design and management to local conditions and agricultural practices to ensure effective implementation.
2. Materials and Methods
A field experiment was conducted in the Fès-Meknès region, Morocco, comparing DI and SDI Systems alongside other water-saving strategies, namely Deficit Irrigation and mulching. Aim of the tree factorial trial in Split-Plot design with four Blocks was to evaluate the effects of the experimental factors on growth and yield parameters for potato (Solanum tuberosum) in the summer growing season 2023 from March to July and for field peas (Pisum sativum) in the subsequent winter period from October 2023 to February 2024.
3. Results and Discussion
For potatoes, the trial clearly showed the challenging nature of successful and uniform crop germination when using SDI under hot and dry weather conditions. Heterogeneous germination and development patterns under subsurface irrigation led to a significant reduction of tuber yield (30.73±10.45 t ha-1) compared to the DI treatment (40.80±7.41 t ha-1) by about 10 tons per hectare. However, contrasting results of tuber yield from individual, early-germinated SDI potato plants underscored the potential of SDI Systems for this crop.
Results for the field peas cultivated as short cycle crop during the winter period 2023/2024 showed a clear positive impact of mulching, with peas reaching more than 20 % higher yields in mulched versus unmulched treatments. Additionally, in line with the results from potato crop, plot yield of peas was significantly reduced when irrigated by SDI (4.67±0.93 t ha-1) compared to surface irrigation (5.33±0.90 t ha-1). Field observations indicated that pea plants growing in SDI plots experienced water stress during early developmental stages, possibly due to the need for the plant roots to adapt to the subsurface water source after an initial period of high soil moisture in upper soil layers due to precipitation. The analysis of yield parameters from single plants supports this theory, showing significant lower numbers of peas per plant in SDI versus DI treatment. Anyways, results from single plants also show that subsurface irrigated plants were able to compensate the lower number of peas per plant by higher thousand kernel weight, resulting in a yield per plant at the same level for subsurface as for surface irrigated peas.
In conclusion, the findings underscore the need to implement management best practices for SDI systems in the germination and early development stage of crops. Once plant stands are well-established, SDI has proven to be an efficient irrigation and fertigation system under the semi-arid climate of central northern Morocco, combinable with other water-saving strategies.
4. References
1. Fader, M.; Shi, S.; Bloh, W. von; Bondeau, A.; Cramer, W. (2016): Mediterranean irrigation under climate change: more efficient irrigation needed to compensate for increases in irrigation water requirements. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 20 (2), 953–973.
2. Sinobas, L. R.; Rodrguez, M. G. (2012): A Review of Subsurface Drip Irrigation and Its Management. Lee, T. S. (Ed.): Water Quality, Soil and Managing Irrigation of Crops, 171–194.
| Keywords | Subsurface Drip Irrigation; Deficit Irrigation; Mulching; Morocco |
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