Water use efficiency in agriculture can be enhanced by several strategies mainly by reducing evaporation from the soil surface. The mulching techniques were being used widely in irrigated crop production worldwide. The mulching techniques can be also implemented in summer vegetables production under rain-fed conditions. The current study aimed at evaluating the effect of polyethylene black plastic mulch on growth and yield of okra, Abelmoschus esculentus and summer squash, Cucurbita pepo L. under rain-fed conditions of Jordan. Two field experiments were conducted during summer growing season at Al-Rabbah Agricultural Research Station, Mu'tah University, Jordan. Soil cover treatments were polyethylene black plastic mulch and no mulch (bare soil). The results indicated that the mulched plots had higher soil moisture content than bare soil plots, which has positively reflected on vegetative and yield parameters. Using polyethylene plastic mulch had pronounced positive effect on yield of okra and squash as compared to bare soil. Early, middle, late and total yield of both vegetable crops were significantly increased in plots covered with plastic mulch. In addition, fruit number and weight had also an increasing trend as fruit yield. Plots covered with black plastic mulch were produced higher fresh and dry weights of both vegetable crops. It ban be concluded that using black plastic mulch as a soil cover increased okra and squash vegetative growth and yield under rain-fed conditions.

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2011) Effect of irrigation regimes on water use efficiency and tomato yield (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) grown in an arid environment, Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science, 57:1, 105-114, This study was conducted to determine the influence of irrigation regimes on yield of two tomato cultivars -TY-DANA and GS12. Experimental treatments were three irrigation intervals (2, 4, and 6 days), and three irrigation quantities (50%, 75%, and 100% of pan evaporation [Ep]). The total yield increased with increasing amount of irrigation water for both cultivars. The total yield increased about 10% and 17% for 100% of Ep treatment compared with 50% Ep treatment for TY-DANA and GS12 cultivars, respectively. The 100% Ep treatment showed the lowest irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) (16.7 and 10.4 kg m 73 ), while 50% Ep showed the maximum IWUE (23.9 and 17 kg m 73 ) for TY-DANA and GS12 cultivars, respectively. The average fruit weight for 100% Ep treatment was usually higher than the other treatments. Generally, yield decreased using 50% Ep, however, the benefits of increasing IWUE and saving around 50% of irrigation water will help to grow crops in more areas and in managing the limited water resources in arid environments.

Colored shading nets have been increasingly studied in semi-arid crop production systems, primarily because of their ability to reduce solar radiation with the attendant reductions in air, plant, and soil temperatures. However, there is a paucity of research concerning the impact of colored shading nets on various crops grown under semi-arid environments, particularly the sweet pepper (Capsicum annum) production system. This study aimed to investigate the effects of three colored shading net treatments (i.e., white, green, and black shading nets with 50% shading intensity and control with unshaded conditions) on the growth and instantaneous water use efficiency (WUE) of sweet pepper. The results showed that all colored shading nets exhibited significantly lower daytime air temperatures and light intensity (22 to 28 °C and 9992 lx, respectively) compared with the control (32 to 37 °C and 24,973 lx, respectively). There were significant differences in sweet pepper growth performance among treatments, including plant height, shoot dry weight, leaf area, leaf chlorophyll content, and vitamin C in ripened fruit. The enhanced photosynthetic rates were observed in sweet pepper plants under the colored shading nets compared with control plants. WUE increased among the colored shading net treatments in the following order: control ≤ white < black < green. Overall, the application of green and black shading nets to sweet pepper production systems under semi-arid environments significantly enhanced plant growth responses and WUE.

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