4.7 Article

Improve the Constructive Design of a Furrow Diking Rotor Aimed at Increasing Water Consumption Efficiency in Sunflower Farming Systems

Journal

AGRICULTURE-BASEL
Volume 12, Issue 6, Pages -

Publisher

MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/agriculture12060846

Keywords

water consumption efficiency; climate change control; sunflower crop management; regenerative agriculture

Categories

Funding

  1. Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding, Exploratory Research Program [PN-III-P4-ID-PCE2016-0860, 174/08.08.2017, 16PFE/2018]
  2. University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania, within the PubArt Program

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Water is a primary limiting factor in dryland crop production, and emerging approaches for preserving rainwater can significantly improve agricultural system efficiency. Furrow diking, a method that involves compartmentalizing micro-basins, is a promising solution for water conservation in sloping terrain. This research aims to improve furrow diking technology by designing and testing optimal geometries for soil compartmentalization. The study found that the curved rotor blade design was the most efficient, resulting in higher soil volume and fewer losses. The technology also proved to be effective in non-irrigated sunflower crops on sloping land, increasing seed production by 11-13% compared to non-compartmentalized crops.
Water is the primary limiting factor in dryland crop production, therefore emerging approaches for preserving rainwater to be more accessible to plants, for extended periods of time, can significantly improve agricultural system efficiency. Furrow diking, a method involving compartmentalizing micro-basins to increase infiltration and soil water storage is one of the most promising water conservation solutions, particularly for sloping terrain. Moreover, furrow diking is associated with water conservation practices and regenerative agriculture as adaptive to dryland crop production. The present research study aims at improving the process of building soil compartmentalized segments using furrow diking technology, by designing and testing optimal geometries for the active soil modeling component. Three new constructive designs of a furrow diking active subassembly were built and tested in comparison with the standard version. In accordance with the considered quality indicators, the most efficient constructive shape was the curved rotor blade due to the higher volume of managed soil and fewer soil losses. Furthermore, the technology applied on three non-irrigated sunflower experimental crops grown on sloping land showed very good effectiveness with respect to the studied climatic and pedological conditions in southern Romania. When compared with non-compartmentalized crops, the most efficient rotor geometry design increased seed production by 11-13%. Water storage efficiency contributed the most to the yield increase, with moisture retention from the root zone improving by an average of 20%.

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