Impact of Deficit Irrigation Strategies Using Saline Water on Soil and Peach Tree Yield in an Arid Region of Tunisia

Ines Toumi (), Mohamed Ghrab, Olfa Zarrouk and Kamel Nagaz
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Ines Toumi: Dry Lands and Oasis Cropping Laboratory, Arid Regions Institute, University of Gabès, Route de Djorf, km 22.5, Médenine 4119, Tunisia
Mohamed Ghrab: Olive Institute, University of Sfax, LR16IO02, BP 1087, Sfax 3000, Tunisia
Olfa Zarrouk: IRTA-Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Torre Marimon, 08140 Barcelona, Spain
Kamel Nagaz: Dry Lands and Oasis Cropping Laboratory, Arid Regions Institute, University of Gabès, Route de Djorf, km 22.5, Médenine 4119, Tunisia

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Sustainable fruit orchard development in arid areas is severely affected by the scarcity of fresh water. To mitigate the lack of fresh water, the use of low-quality water for irrigation is becoming a common practice in several margin areas. However, salinity is considered one of the most important environmental constraints limiting the successful crop production. Therefore, the effects of deficit irrigation strategies using saline water (3.1 dS m −1 ) on soil water content, soil salinity, and yield of commercial peach orchard were investigated. Three irrigation treatments were considered: a Control, full irrigated (FI); and partial root-zone drying (PRD 50 ); and deficit irrigation (DI) strategies irrigated at 50% ETc. These levels of water supply allowed for contrasting watering conditions with clear distinction between irrigation treatments. The differential pattern in soil moisture was accompanied by that of soil salinity with an increase in all FI treatments (16–25%). The results indicated that soil salinity increased with increasing water supply and evaporative demand during the growing season from January (3.2 dS m −1 ) to August (6.6 dS m −1 ). Deficit irrigation strategies (DI, PRD 50 ) induced more soil salinity along the row emitter compared to the Control due to insufficient leaching fractions. By the end of the growing season, the soil salinity under long-term saline drip irrigation remained stable (5.3–5.7 dS m −1 ). An efficient leaching action seemed to be guaranteed by rainfall and facilitated by sandy soil texture, as well as the high evaporative demand and the important salt quantity supplied, which maintain the deficit irrigation strategies as valuable tools for water saving and improving water productivity. The significant water saving of 50% of water requirements induced a fruit yield loss of 20%. For this reason, DI and PRD 50 could be reasonable irrigation management tools for saving water and controlling soil salinity in arid areas and on deep sandy soil.

Keywords: P. persica; water restriction; low-quality water; salinization; production; warm area (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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