Scientists from the Desertification Research Center (CIDE, CSIC-UV-GVA) and the Center for Soil Science and Applied Biology of Segura (CEBAS-CSIC) prove that using a single dripper-holder line would optimize the use of water in these crops
The study contributes to establish guidelines to improve the agronomic design of irrigation, facilitating the work of cultivation and even achieving increases in production.
A group of researchers from the Desertification Research Center (CIDE), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the University of Valencia and the Generalitat Valenciana, and the Center for Soil Science and Applied Biology of Segura (CEBAS-CSIC), have developed a study to establish the optimal method for irrigating persimmon and lemon tree plantations in semi-arid climates by means of drip irrigation. The study concludes that a single drip line is sufficient to optimize yield and water use efficiency, both in the case of lemon trees and young persimmon trees, which increased their production by up to 13%.
The study, published in the open access journal Water, responds to the needs of the productive sector to find the best way to apply drip irrigation in crops such as persimmon and lemon, of great economic importance in the Valencian Community and the Region of Murcia. In it, researchers from CIDE and CEBAS tried to determine the optimal placement of drip irrigation hoses (number and arrangement) in a fruit orchard.
In fruit orchards, one or more drip lines can be used to supply water to the trees. A single line arrangement is more economical and facilitates cultivation, but may not provide sufficient volume of wet soil. This paper compares the agronomic response of trees as a function of the number of drip lines used. "The main conclusion is that, for lemon trees and in a clay soil, a single drip-holder line is sufficient to optimize yield and water use efficiency. Similarly, for young persimmon trees, the arrangement of drippers in a single dripline allows optimizing water productivity," says Diego Intrigliolo, CIDE researcher and one of the authors of the study.
The study conducted contributes to establish guidelines to optimize the agronomic design of irrigation, facilitating the cultivation tasks. “The application of irrigation by means of a drip-holder line provides the main added value of a more economical irrigation installation and easier management of the orchard, since it facilitates the cultivation work, having a single hose that is also close to the trunk,” explains the CIDE researcher.
Increased production
In the case of lemon trees, similar results were obtained using 1 or 2 drip lines in terms of production, water use and efficiency. This is due to the fact that the trial was carried out applying the same irrigation dose using one or two drip lines. In the persimmon trial, with young trees, a single dripper line increased production by 13% compared to two dripper lines.
To increase water use efficiency, deficit irrigation was carried out in the trial for lemon trees, an optimization strategy in which irrigation is applied during the drought-sensitive phases of a crop. In this case, deficit irrigation, regardless of whether it is applied with one or two drip lines, increases water use efficiency by up to 35%.
The study was conducted in the town of Santomera (Murcia), in collaboration with the Murcian irrigation materials manufacturer Azud, in a clay soil and semi-arid climate and with slightly saline irrigation water. "The results cannot be extrapolated to other crops or other soil conditions in particular. They are valid for clay soils for the case of lemon and young persimmon trees. In other crops and situations, we don't know what can happen," Diego Intrigliolo stresses.
Reference:
Margarita Parra, David Hortelano, Francisco García-Sánchez, Diego S. Intrigliolo and José S. Rubio-Asensio, Effects of Drip Irrigation Design on a Lemon and a Young Persimmon Orchard in Semi-Arid Conditions, Water 2021, 13(13), 1795. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w13131795
CIDE Communication
