Deficit irrigation strategies for subtropical mango farming. A review

Abstract

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is broadly grown in tropical regions and can also be cultivated in irrigated subtropical semi-arid areas; however, water shortages are a serious problem in the latter region. Among biotic and abiotic factors, water supply is one of the most crucial elements that determine productivity. The allocation of water will be an ever-increasing source of pressure because of vast agricultural demands under changing climatic conditions. Although the mango is considered to be tolerant to drought, water stress during growing cycle can reduce productivity. Here, we review the recent progress in evaluating and augmenting mango water productivity. Developments in physiological and agronomic understanding that have led to a boost in water productivity are presented. In addition, this review deals with deficit irrigation strategies to elucidate the effects on mango yield, water use efficiency, and the response of physiological indicators to water stress. Our main findings were as follows: (1) Under a changing climate, traditional irrigation based on water balance will not be sustainable in the medium/long term; (2) deficit irrigation strategies applied to mango can save irrigation water by up to 40% and improve water use efficiency by up to 30%; and (3) there is valuable potential for further improvement owing to advanced knowledge in terms of the physiological response of mango to water stress, and there are good prospects within the current approaches if they are associated with specific environmental physiology. We concluded that under current medium-/long-term perspectives regarding available water resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, there is an urgent demand for adaptive and water-saving strategies. Thus, it will be vital to redesign irrigation schemes in areas where water is scarce to adjust deficit irrigation strategies not only to save water, enhance water use efficiency, and maintain yield, but also to produce fruits with improved quality.

Metabolomics-Based Evaluation of Crop Quality Changes as a Consequence of Climate Change

“…Concurrently with alterations in temperature, climate change will also trigger variations in current precipitation patterns, modifying not only the precipitation levels but also changing the typical periods where rainfall occurs, causing periods of drought stress and flooding events [63,[127][128][129][130][131]. Moreover, these changes will likely be accompanied by an increase in water demand as the global population grows [81]. Typically, drought stress leads to a diminution of crop yield [132], although stress effects depend on the severity of the drought and the developmental stage of the plant when it suffers stress [132].…”

“…In turn, as ABA participates in fruit ripening, it is expected that its induction under drought or salt stress will affect the fruit metabolic composition, in particular the sugar and anthocyanin content [14,86,135] (Figure 2). For these reasons, several irrigation strategies have been essayed to obtain high-quality fruits without a great loss in crop yield while optimizing the water use [62,81,136]. As the response to abiotic stress is commonly species-and cultivar-dependent, the stress impacts on fruit metabolism must be monitored individually to obtain the best performance [81].…”

“…For these reasons, several irrigation strategies have been essayed to obtain high-quality fruits without a great loss in crop yield while optimizing the water use [ 62 , 81 , 136 ]. As the response to abiotic stress is commonly species- and cultivar-dependent, the stress impacts on fruit metabolism must be monitored individually to obtain the best performance [ 81 ].…”

“…These two organic acids remained unaltered in mango ( Magnifera indica cv. Lirfa) fruits [ 52 ], which could be because these fruits are relatively tolerant to drought stress [ 81 ]. With regard to less abundant organic acids, the two chili species previously mentioned showed different responses [ 43 ].…”

“…Commonly, no significant changes have been observed in the total carotenoid content in a wide variety of crops suffering drought stress, although slight increases, as reported for some tomato cultivars [ 42 ] and mangoes from the cultivar Osteen [ 81 ], or decreases, as observed in mangoes from the Cogshall cultivar [ 82 ], have been detected. In fact, the modulation of carotenoid genes under deficit irrigation in Sauvignon vert grapes was much less intense than the modulation of phenylpropanoid genes [ 79 ].…”