Journal
SPANISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
Volume 13, Issue 3, Pages -Publisher
CONSEJO SUPERIOR INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS-CSIC
DOI: 10.5424/sjar/2015133-7102
Keywords
intermittent application; subsurface drip irrigation; dual-lateral drip; physical barrier; water movement in the soil; Solanum tuberosum L.
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Funding
- National Plan of Science and Technology at King Saud University [10-WAT985-02]
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Wetting pattern enhancement is one of the goals of irrigation designers and researchers. In this study, we addressed three techniques (dual-lateral drip, intermittent flow and physical barrier methods) that change the wetting pattern of subsurface drip irrigation. To study their effect on the yield and water-use efficiency (WUE) of potatoes, field experiments were conducted for four seasons, during which the soil-water balance was continuously monitored using a set of capacitance probes. The results of the soil water patterns showed that both the dual-lateral and intermittent techniques increased lateral water movement and eliminated deep percolation, whereas the physical barrier had a limited effect on the top soil layer. The crop results indicated that the yield and WUE increased significantly in response to the application of the dual-lateral drip (up to 30%); the intermittent application also positively affected the yield (similar to 10%) and the WUE (similar to 14%), but these effects were not statistically significant according to the statistical model. The physical barrier showed a non-significant negative effect on the yield and WUE. These findings suggest the following recommended practices: the use of dual-lateral drip technique due to its beneficial results and its potential for increasing yields and reducing water consumption; the application of intermittent flow with more than three surges; and restricting the use of physical barriers to soils with high permeability.
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