EFFECT OF DRIP IRRIGATION FREQUENCY ON SOIL MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY FOR SPRING POTATO PLANTED UNDER DRIP IRRIGATION IN A SANDY SOIL

Kassem, M. A.

doi:10.21608/mjae.2008.190136

EFFECT OF DRIP IRRIGATION FREQUENCY ON SOIL MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY FOR SPRING POTATO PLANTED UNDER DRIP IRRIGATION IN A SANDY SOIL

Document Type : Original Article

Author

M. A. Kassem

Assoc. Prof. of Ag. Eng., Fac. Ag., Cairo Univ, Egypt.

10.21608/mjae.2008.190136

Abstract

The current study was carried out at Agricultural and Veterinary Research Station, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, Kingdom of Saudia Arabia during 2003 and 2004 spring growing seasons. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of irrigation frequency on irrigation water depth "d", wetted area width "W" and depth "D", potato root distribution, soil moisture distribution, water losses by deep percolation, potato tuber yield and water use efficiency. Treatments consisted of seven different drip irrigation frequency: "IF2/1" (irrigating every half day), "IF1/1" (irrigating every day), "IF1/2" (irrigating every 2 days), "IF1/3" (irrigating every 3 days), "IF1/4" (irrigating every 4 days), "IF1/6" (irrigating every 6 days) and "IF1/8" (irrigating every 8 days). All treatments received the same total amount of drip irrigation water. The results indicated that drip irrigation frequency affected all parameters of this study. Irrigation water depth "d" was increased with decreasing irrigation frequency from IF2/1to IF1/8, depending on potato growing stage and climatic conditions. Also, wetted area width "W" and depth "D", water losses by deep percolation were increased with decreasing irrigation frequency depending on irrigation water depth "d". Soil moisture distribution was effected by irrigation frequency depending on potato growing stage, soil depth and the depth of applied water for each irrigation. Potato root growth was also affected by drip irrigation frequency: the higher the frequency, the lower was the root weight density (RWD). A value of 51-72% of RWD was found in the 0–10 cm soil layer at all treatments. High frequency irrigation enhanced potato tuber growth, field water use efficiency (FWUE) and crop water use efficiency (CWUE).

Main Subjects

Agricultural Irrigation and Drainage Engineering

References

Allen, R.G., Pereira, L.S., Raes, D., Smith, M., 1998. Crop evapotranspiration. Guidelines for computing crop water requirements. FAO irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56, FAO, Rome, Italy, p. 300.

Clothier, B.E and S.R Green, 1994. Rootzone processes and the efficient use of irrigation water, Agric. Water Manage. 25 (5): 1–12.

Coelho, E.F. and D. Or. 1996. A parametric model for two-dimensional water uptake by corn roots under drip irrigation, Soil Sci. Am. J. 60 (4): 1039–1049.

Coelho, E.F. and D. Or. 1999. Root distribution and water uptake patterns of corn under surface and subsurface drip irrigation, Plant Soil 206 (2): 123–136.

Dalvi, V.B., K.N. Tiwari, M.N. Pawade and P.S. Phirke.1999. Response surface analysis of tomato production under microirrigation, Agric. Water Manage. 41 (8): 11–19.

Doorenbos, J. and A. H. Kassam. 1979. Yield response to water. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 33, FAO, Rome, Italy, p. 181

Mantell, A., H. Frenkel and A. Meiri 1985. Drip irrigation of cotton with saline sodic water, Irrig. Sci. 6 (1): 95–106.

Meshkat, M., R.C. Warner and S.R. Workman. 2000. Evaporation reduction potential in an undisturbed soil irrigated with surface drip and sand tube irrigation, Trans. ASAE 43 (1): 79–86.

Pitts D.J., Y.J. Tsai, T.A. Obreza and D.L. Myhre.1991. Flooding and drip irrigation frequency effects on tomatoes in South Florida, Trans. ASAE 34 (3): 865–870.

Segal E., A. Ben-Gal and U. Shani. 2000. Water availability and yield response to high-frequency micro-irrigation in sunflowers, Proceedings of the Sixth International Micro-irrigation Congress on ‘Micro-irrigation Technology for Developing Agriculture’, Conference Papers, 22–27 October South Africa.

Sharmasarkar, F.C., S.D. Miller, G.F. Vance and R. Zhang. 2001 Assessment of drip irrigation and flood irrigation on water and fertilizer use efficiencies for sugarbeets, Agric. Water Manage. 46 (2): 241–251.

Smith, M.1991. Report on the expert consultation on procedures for revision of FAD guidelines for prediction of crop water requirements, FAD, Rome Italy p. 45.

Schwartzman M. and B. Zur.1986. Emitter spacing and geometry of wetted soil volume, J. Irrig. Drain. Eng. 112 (3): 242–253