Effect of Planting Date on the Rate of Evaporation and Transpiration Components of Maize under Salinity Stress Conditions

Document Type : Research Article

Author

• R. Saeidi

Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/jsw.2024.85046.1350

Abstract

Introduction
Salinity stress causes reduction of crop evapotranspiration (ET_c) and yield. An unsuitable seed planting date can result in negative atmospheric effects, such as temperature stress, during the crop growth period. Consequently, salinity stress and unfavorable climatic conditions during this period interact to reduce crop water uptake. The mentioned conditions effect, should be investigated on crop transpiration amount (actual water requirement) and soil surface evaporation losses. This research results will have a determinative effect on the optimal use of water resources.
 
Materials and Methods
The studied crop in this research was S.C 704 maize. The crop planting was conducted in mini-lysimeters with a diameter of 40 cm and a height of 70 cm. The experiment factors included soil salinity stress and seed planting date. Soil salinity treatments were selected at four levels of 1.7 (S₁), 2.5 (S₂), 3.8 (S₃), 5.9 (S₄) dS.m^-1. Seed planting date included of 5 May (P₁), 25 May (P₂) 14 June (P₃) and 4 July (P₄). Crop growth period for all planting date treatments, was 140 days (FAO-56). Experiment was conducted as factorial based on completely randomized design with 16 treatments and three repetitions. Variance analysis and average comparison of data was done by SPSS software and with Duncan's multi-range test (at 5% probability level). Daily soil moisture amount was measured by a moisture meter. Irrigation time was determined for without water stress conditions. Readily available water limit was determined 0.4. Irrigation volume was calculated according to soil moisture deficit (up to FC limit), soil density, root depth, leaching fraction and soil surface area. To separate the evapotranspiration components, all treatments were performed in two series of mini-lysimeters. In the first series, soil moisture reduction was related to crop evapotranspiration amount. But in the second series, the plastic mulch was placed on soil surface. Soil moisture reduction in the second series, was only related to crop transpiration amount. Difference of data in the first and second series was equal to the evaporation amount. Linear function of Mass and Hoffman (1977) was used as the function of evapotranspiration-salinity, transpiration-salinity, and evaporation-salinity.
 
Results and Discussion
As salinity increased from S1 to S4 levels, evapotranspiration, transpiration, and evaporation amounts were measured on the planting dates P1, P2, P3, and P4. The measurements were as follows:
Evapotranspiration (mm): 619-548 (P1), 621-549 (P2), 624-547 (P3), and 625-544 (P4)
Transpiration (mm): 429-309 (P1), 421-295 (P2), 418-281 (P3), and 412-265 (P4)
Evaporation (mm): 190-239 (P1), 200-254 (P2), 206-266 (P3), and 213-279 (P4)
These ranges reflect the measured amounts for each variable under increasing salinity levels across the different planting dates. Under the influence of salinity stress, soil water potential decreases, leading to a reduction in water uptake by the crop and subsequently decreased crop transpiration. As a result of this reduction in crop water uptake, the remaining water in the soil is utilized for evaporation. In S₄ level and on dates of: P₁, P₂, P₃ and P₄, crop transpiration portion decreased to 12.9%, 14.1%, 15.6% and 17.2%, respectively, and evaporation portion increased to the same amount. By adjusting the seed planting date to optimize the utilization of favorable atmospheric conditions during crop growth stages, the increase in the portion of evaporation is prevented. In initial stage of growth period, only 0 to 10% of soil surface is covered by crops (FAO-56) causing the evaporation component to have a dominant portion in the crop evapotranspiration parameter. As a result, placing of initial growth stage in warm days of year caused an increase in evaporation losses. It seems that S₁P₁ treatment was the optimal condition for transpiration increase and evaporation decrease. The estimated functions showed that (in salinity stress conditions) crop transpiration decreased more than ET_c. Therefore, the transpiration rate should be considered as the crop's net water requirement instead of ET_c (crop evapotranspiration). According to the Mass-Hoffman function, under stress conditions, the decreasing slope of transpiration and evapotranspiration and the increasing slope of evaporation become more pronounced. For instance, in planting dates of P1, P2, P3, and P4, for each unit (dS.m^-1) of increase in soil salinity, the evapotranspiration rates decreased by 2.51%, 2.82%, 3.3%, and 3.65%, respectively. Similarly, the transpiration rates decreased by 6.1%, 7.34%, 8.42%, and 9.2%, respectively, while the evaporation rates increased by 5.5%, 6.7%, 7%, and 7.82%.
 
Conclusion
Salinity and atmospheric temperature stresses had interaction effects on evapotranspiration and components rates. Postponing the seed planting date and not utilizing optimal weather conditions, especially during spring, can lead to damage to transpiration, which is a favorable aspect; however it is unfavorable in evaporation,. Therefore, in irrigated crops, it is advisable not to plant seeds during the warm months of the year, especially in July and August. Consequently, by controlling soil salinity and selecting the appropriate planting date, water can be optimally utilized.
  

Keywords

• Growth period
• Soil salinity
• Water losses
• Water requirement

Main Subjects

• Irrigation

©2024 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source.

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