Evaluation of Suitable Mixture of Water and Air for Processing Tomato in Drip Irrigation in Xinjiang Oasis

Chilin Wei, Yan Zhu, Jinzhu Zhang and Zhenhua Wang
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Chilin Wei: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China
Yan Zhu: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China
Jinzhu Zhang: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China
Zhenhua Wang: College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-19

Abstract: Aerated irrigation (AI) has emerged as a method to mitigate rhizosphere hypoxia caused by wetting front with sub-surface drip irrigation (SDI). Increasing oxygen in processing tomato’s root zone is beneficial to the improvement of the rhizosphere gas environment, crop growth, yield and quality. The relationship between aerated irrigation and irrigation quantity is not clear. A total of eight treatments, including four irrigation levels (4950 m 3 hm −2 (W1), 4750 m 3 hm −2 (W2), 4500 m 3 hm −2 (W3), 4050 m 3 hm −2 (W4)) in combination with aerated irrigation (A2) and non-aerated irrigation (A1) were used to investigate the effects of aerated irrigation on the physiological characteristics and yield of processing tomatoes under mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang, China. The effects of aerated irrigation on plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index and dry matter, photosynthesis, fluorescence, fruit quality and yield of processing tomatoes were studied. The results showed that plant height, stem diameter, biomass accumulation and leaf area index of processing tomatoes under aerated irrigation were increased by 10.2%, 7.3%, 12.5% and 6.2% under the W1, W2, W3 and W4 conditions ( p < 0.05), respectively, compared with non-aerated irrigation. Yield and the content of Vitamin C and soluble solids under aerated irrigation was 9.71%, 5.59% and 5.68% ( p < 0.05) higher than that under conventional irrigation, respectively, and the sugar-acid under aerated irrigation decreased by 0.5%. Through principal component analysis, W2A2 treatment had a higher score according to the yield index (per fruit weight, fruit number per plant) and quality index (Vitamin C, soluble solids, sugar-acid ratio) than the other treatments. The results show that aerated irrigation is feasible under the existing mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang and, in this experiment, W2A2 treatment was the most suitable planting mode.

Keywords: mulched drip irrigation; aerated irrigation; processing tomato; yield; fruit quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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