Impact of two irrigation scheduling techniques on water use efficiency and yield of potato crop (Solanum tuberosum L.) grown in sandy soils

Abstract

Due to water scarcity in arid and semi-arid region there is a need to save each drop of water especially water used for irrigation. This can be achieve using the irrigation scheduling technique that allow to precisely calculate the crop water requirements and adding them when needed. The experiment was carried out to compare the ETc values (FAO method) and Crop-R method basically based on climatic data with the exception that Crop-R uses soil moisture probe for providing real data information. The two methods were applied under field condition irrigated by center pivot system of Potatoes crop (Solanum tuberosumsp.) grown on a new reclaimed soils in Wadi El-Natroun, Egypt. To study the water use efficiency (WUE) and yield productivity of potato during growing seasons 2019/2020 Comparing the two irrigation methods results showed that Crop-R method surpassed ETc values method in terms of water use efficiency (WUE), maximum plant height, yield and number of irrigation events. Values of WUE, maximum plant height, yield and numbers of irrigation events for ETc were 8.31 kg m-3, 60 cm, 31.60 Mg ha-1 and 56, respectively. Whereas, for Crop-R the values were 10.30 kg m-3, 60 cm, 32.66 Mg ha-1 and 53, respectively. The results of this study encourage the use of Crop-R method since it allows save water, maximizing the yield and reducing energy due to minimizing the number of irrigation events, to achieve profitability and ultimately sustainability.