The Influence of Winter Irrigation Amount on the Characteristics of Water and Salt Distribution and WUE in Different Saline-Alkali Farmlands in Northwest China

Wenjuan Chen, Mingsi Li () and Qinglin Li
Additional contact information
Wenjuan Chen: College of Sciences, Shiehezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Mingsi Li: College of Water Conservancy and Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Qinglin Li: College of Water Conservancy and Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 21, 1-17

Abstract: Winter irrigation is widely carried out to alleviate soil salinization in Northwest China. In recent years, the effects of irrigation amount and irrigation schedule on soil water and salt distribution and water use efficiency (WUE) during crop growth periods have been extensively studied, but the effects of winter irrigation on water use efficiency have been generally ignored. This work was conducted from November 2018 to October 2020 in two kinds of saline-alkali farmlands (mild saline-alkali farmland and moderate saline-alkali farmland) with five winter irrigation amounts (0, 150, 225, 300 and 375 mm). The results indicated that, during the winter irrigation period, the maximum moisture content layer in the soil becomes more shallow with the increase in the winter irrigation amount and the salinity of the soil. The salt return process mainly occurs during the late thawing period. After two years, for a winter irrigation amount of 150 mm to 375 mm, the change rate of soil salt in mild saline-alkali farmland decreased from −2.50% to −15.38% in the 0–100 cm profile, and that value in moderate saline-alkali farmland decreased from 12.22% to −16.85%. Compared with the non-winter irrigation treatment, the sprouting rate, survival rate, morphological index and cotton yield in the coming year are greater under the winter irrigation treatment. For mild saline-alkali farmland and moderate saline-alkali farmland, to keep soil desalinated, enhance cotton growth and save water resources, the recommended winter irrigation amounts are 225 mm and 300 mm, respectively. The research methods and results are of great significance for rationally evaluating the sustainable winter irrigation amount for cotton fields under mulched drip irrigation in different saline-alkali farmlands.

Keywords: winter irrigation; irrigation amount; soil moisture; soil salinity; cotton growth; cotton yield; WUE (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/21/15428/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/21/15428/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:21:p:15428-:d:1270391

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().