Irrigation
halimeh piri; jalal gharibvan notorki; parviz haghighatjoo
Abstract
Introduction
Due to Iran's geographical location and climatic conditions, the quantity and quality of water resources are considered one of the limiting factors for agriculture in this country. Droughts in the last two decades, on the one hand, and lack of attention to the optimal use and proper ...
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Introduction
Due to Iran's geographical location and climatic conditions, the quantity and quality of water resources are considered one of the limiting factors for agriculture in this country. Droughts in the last two decades, on the one hand, and lack of attention to the optimal use and proper exploitation of water, on the other hand, have exacerbated the water crisis in Iran. For this reason, the agricultural sector has witnessed serious developments and new perspectives on the rational exploitation of water resources, irrigation shortages, the use of saline water resources in agriculture, changing irrigation systems, and cultivating water-intensive plants in the last two decades. Quinoa has been introduced as a forage crop for ensuring food security in the world, which can tolerate water and drought stress conditions to some extent. However, the development of its cultivation under water and drought stress conditions in Khuzestan Province should be based on determining the limits of irrigation water amounts and determining its tolerance to salinity.
Material and Methods
The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of different amounts of irrigation water and different levels of salinity on quantitative and qualitative parameters of quinoa plant. To carry out the work, quinoa was cultivated under drip irrigation and in a pulsed manner. The treatments studied included irrigation water quantity (I1: 60, I2: 80 and I3: 100% of field capacity), water quality (F (fresh): 0.5 and S (saline): 6 dS/m) and two irrigation managements: continuous drip (C) and pulsed drip (P). At the end of the growing season, sampling was performed to determine quantitative plant characteristics such as height, stem diameter, leaf area index, root length, root volume, fresh and dry root weight, and fresh and dry forage yield. Also, to investigate the effect of treatments on quinoa forage quality, qualitative parameters including leaf chlorophyll a and b content, leaf proline content, total digestible nutrients (TDN), crude protein (CP), cell wall density (hemicellulose and lignin) (NDF), and hemicellulose-free cell wall (ADF) percentage were measured. To investigate the distribution of salinity in the soil profile during and at the end of the growing season compared to its beginning, by digging a profile in the center of all experimental plots, two soil samples were taken from each profile at a depth of 0-30 cm and 30-60 cm. These samples were transferred to the laboratory and saturated extraction was performed on them. Then, the electrical conductivity of these samples was determined using an EC meter. All data collected from the experiment were entered into EXCEL 2019 software. After categorizing the data, SAS 9.1 software was used to analyze them. Data analysis of variance was performed at the 5 and 1 percent levels, and then means were compared using Duncan's test.
Result
The results showed that the treatments of continuous drip irrigation with freshwater and 100% depth, pulsed drip irrigation and 100% depth (first pulse of freshwater, second pulse of freshwater, third pulse of freshwater), continuous drip irrigation with freshwater and 80% depth, and pulsed drip irrigation and 80% depth (first pulse of freshwater, second pulse of freshwater, third pulse of freshwater) had the highest quantitative traits. The highest values of plant height, stem diameter, leaf area index, fresh biomass, and dry biomass were 94 cm, 1.10 mm, 23.152 cm², 25.31420, and 14.8256 tons per hectare, respectively, which were obtained from the continuous drip irrigation treatment at 100% of the plant's water requirement using fresh water. In these treatments, the final soil salinity was close to the initial salinity at the time of the experiment, and the highest amounts of chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids were also observed. The TDN and ADF values were high in two treatments: continuous drip irrigation with freshwater and 100% depth, and pulsed drip irrigation and 100% depth (first pulse freshwater, second pulse freshwater, third pulse freshwater). However, these treatments had low soluble sugar, proline and protein levels. Applying saline water alone or in combination with sweet pulses and water stress in treatments 2, 4, and 12 to 30 increased the quality of the produced forage (due to high soluble sugar, proline, and protein). The highest water use efficiency was obtained from treatment 26, which included pulsed drip irrigation and a depth of 60% (first pulse of fresh water, second pulse of salt water, third pulse of fresh water).
Conclusion
Therefore, considering that both water consumption efficiency and quality are considered in the production of forage products, it is recommended to use this treatment in conditions of saline water and pulsed drip irrigation.
Soil science
O. Toorajzadeh; H. Piri; A. Naserin; M.M. Chari
Abstract
IntroductionAppropriate and practical use of agricultural waste reduce the pressure on the environment. Recently, there has been significant promotion of biochar utilization in agricultural lands. It serves as a valuable source of organic material for enhancing plant growth and as an effective soil amendment ...
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IntroductionAppropriate and practical use of agricultural waste reduce the pressure on the environment. Recently, there has been significant promotion of biochar utilization in agricultural lands. It serves as a valuable source of organic material for enhancing plant growth and as an effective soil amendment to improve soil properties. Due to its unique chemical and physical properties, biochar can be used as a soil conditioner and has many benefits for optimal agricultural and environmental management. Studies have shown that biochar is a useful amendment for improving the physical and chemical properties of soil and effective in maintaining organic matter and soil moisture. Materials and Methods This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effects of biochar on the physical and chemical properties of soil under conditions of water stress and irrigation using saline water. The experiment was carried out in a factorial based on a completely randomized design with three replications in greenhouse conditions. The treatments include three irrigation water treatments (60, 80, and 100 percent water requirement of the plant, respectively, I1, I2, and I3), three treatments of biochar prepared from northern forest trees at a temperature of 300 degrees Celsius (0, 2, and 4 percent by weight of potting soil, respectively, B1, B2, and B3) and three water quality treatments (with electrical conductivity 1, 4 and 7 dS/m, respectively, S1, S2 and S3). The pots were weighed every other day and at each level of biochar and salinity, the water deficit up to the agricultural moisture level was calculated based on the changes in the pot's weight. After harvesting (in the first half of April 2022), in order to investigate the effect of biochar on the amount of soil nutrients and some physical and chemical parameters of the soil under the conditions of water stress and irrigation water salinity, sampling was done from the soil of each pot. The samples were taken to the laboratory and parameters of apparent and actual specific gravity, acidity and salinity of the soil, percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium absorbable of the soil were measured in the laboratory. Referring to the yield to irrigation water ratio, water productivity is obtained by the following relation (Payero et al., 2009): WP=Y/IR, where, WP represents water productivity (kg/m3), Y denotes the yield (kg/ha), and IR shows the amount of irrigation water (m3/ha). Analysis of variance for the results obtained from different treatments was conducted using SAS software (SAS 9.1, SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). The mean values of the main factors and interactive effects were compared using the Duncan method at the 1% and 5% levels of significance. Results and DiscussionThe results showed that the amount of biochar, irrigation water and water salinity and their mutual effects had a significant effect on the measured parameters at the probability level of one and five percent. Adding 2 and 4 mass percent biochar to the soil increased the amount of phosphorus (35 and 60%, respectively), potassium (57% and 61%), nitrogen (83% and 91%), pH (13% and 13%) and electrical conductivity (EC) (13% and 57%) of the soil. By adding 2% and 4% of biochar to the soil, the actual specific gravity of the soil decreased by 13% and 21%, respectively, and the apparent specific gravity decreased by 11% and 22%, respectively. The actual and apparent specific gravity of the soil decreased by adding biochar to the soil. Decreasing the depth of irrigation water and increasing water salinity increased the amount of phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen, pH and EC of the soil. The amount of irrigation water had no significant effect on the apparent and actual specific gravity, however, the salinity of the irrigation water caused a significant increase in the apparent and actual specific gravity of the soil. Although the addition of biochar to the soil increased the nutrients required by plants in the soil, high amounts of biochar in the soil should be used careful, because the addition of this organic matter to the soil at high levels increased soil EC significantly. Based on the findings derived from the research, the utilization of biochar is recommended as a viable approach for enhancing both the chemical quality and productivity of nutrient-poor and sandy soils.
Irrigation
M. Behdarnejad; H. Piri; M. Delbari
Abstract
Introduction
In sustainable farming systems, the use of organic fertilizers is of particular importance in increasing crop production and maintaining sustainable soil fertility. Nowadays, the consumption of organic foods is introduced to consumers as an alternative. The result of the application of ...
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Introduction
In sustainable farming systems, the use of organic fertilizers is of particular importance in increasing crop production and maintaining sustainable soil fertility. Nowadays, the consumption of organic foods is introduced to consumers as an alternative. The result of the application of chemical products is the crisis of environmental pollution, soil and water resources, and the health risk to human society. Nowadays, in order to reduce the effects of misuse of chemical inputs, chemical fertilizers can be replaced with organic biological fertilizers, including animal manure, compost, and green manure. In this regard, chicken manure has a positive effect on the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the soil, and due to its richness in uric acid, the nitrogen contained in it is used by the plant much faster than the nitrogen of other organic fertilizers. Vermicompost is considered a good source of soil fertility due to its organic materials. Organic matter in the soil improves the permeability and drainage of the soil and also prevents excessive dryness of the soil by maintaining sufficient moisture. Despite the fact that vermicompost can be used as a fertilizer in organic farming, high levels of this fertilizer may cause salinity effects in the plant, which affects the growth and development of the plant and even it can cause the death of cucumber as one of the crops sensitive to soil and water salinity. The cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is one of the important vegetables that can be produced in a greenhouse all year round. Fresh consumption of cucumber throughout the year has increased its production. The development of technology and the short growth period of this product has made it possible to grow it in most climate zones. Therefore, in this research, the effects of different levels of water deficit with the simultaneous application of vermicompost and chicken manure on cucumber plants in the Behbahan region have been investigated.
Materials and Methods
In this study, different levels of irrigation water, vermicompost, and poultry manure on ground cucumber were investigated. The experiment was performed in the form of split plots based on completely randomized design and the form of stacks. Treatments included three levels of poultry manure (2, 4 and 8 ton ha-1), three levels of vermicompost (3, 6 and 9 ton ha-1) and three levels of water stress (100, 75 and 50% of plant water requirement). Both vermicompost and poultry manure were applied to the soil before planting. Harvest was done every three days. Fruit weight, diameter and length, plant length, the protein of the dry matter of the fruit percentage, and leaf chlorophyll in each plot were carefully measured. Also, the yield and water productivity at the end of the season were calculated.
Water productivity
Referring to the yield to irrigation water ratio, is obtained by the following relation (Payero et al., 2009):
WP=Y/IR (1)
In this equation, WP represents water productivity (kg/m3), Y denotes the yield (kg/ha), and IR shows the amount of irrigation water (m3/ha).
Statistical analysis
The analysis of variance for the results obtained from different treatments was conducted using SAS software (SAS 9.1, SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). The mean values of the main factors and interactive effects were compared using the Duncan method at the 1% and 5% levels of significance.
Results and Discussion
The results showed that irrigation, poultry manure and vermicompost had a significant effect on the measured parameters at the level of one and five percent probability. Reduction of water consumption reduced yield and yield components, but in this regard, no significant difference was observed between 100% and 75% of water requirement. The highest yield was obtained in the treatment of 100% of plant water requirement and consumption of 4 ton ha-1 of poultry manure and 6 ton ha-1 of vermicompost, in this regard, no significant difference was observed with the treatment of 75% of water requirement. According to the results obtained from this study, it can be said that there is no significant difference in terms of yield between treatments of 75 and 100% of plant water requirement. Therefore, the amount of water given to the plant can be reduced to 75% of the plant water requirement, and with proper management, less water can be consumed without a significant reduction in crop yield. Examining the effects of irrigation water on the amount of the protein of the dry matter of the fruit showed that the highest amount of the protein of the dry matter of the fruit (56.31%) was obtained in the treatment of 75% of the water requirement and the protein of the dry matter of the fruit was less in other treatments. The interaction effect of vermicompost and poultry manure resulted in the highest percentage of cucumber protein at a treatment of 4 tons ha-1 of poultry manure and 6 tons ha-1 of vermicompost (58.42%). However, when the simultaneous use of 8 tons ha-1 of poultry manure and different levels of vermicompost was employed, the percentage of protein in the fruit's dry matter decreased. The combination of drought stress, poultry manure, and vermicompost, along with their interaction effects, significantly influenced the chlorophyll a and b values at both the 1% and 5% probability levels. As the depth of irrigation water decreased, the amounts of chlorophyll a and b also decreased. The treatment with 100% water requirement of the plant showed the highest amounts of chlorophyll a (0.63 mg/g fresh weight) and chlorophyll b (0.36 mg/g fresh weight). However, no significant difference was observed compared to the 75% treatment. Regarding the interactions between vermicompost and poultry manure, it was found that when using 6 tons ha-1 of vermicompost to reduce yield and its components, the use of poultry manure should be reduced to 4 tons ha-1. On the other hand, when higher levels of vermicompost (9 tons ha-1) are used, the application of poultry manure should be reduced to 2 tons ha-1.
Result
According to the results obtained from this research, it can be said that there is no significant difference in performance between the treatments of providing 75% and 100% of the water requirement of the plant, therefore, the amount of water given to the plant can be reduced to the amount of 75% of the water requirement of the plant. With proper management, less water can be consumed without significantly reducing the yield of the product.
