Physiological and Agronomic Responses of Processing Tomatoes to Deficit Irrigation at Critical Stages in a Semi-Arid Environment

Abstract

Deficit irrigation is a valid alternative to conventional irrigation to save water while maintaining high productivity in tomatoes. However, crop sensitivity to water stress due to deficit irrigation may change with the growth stage. To assess the physiological and agronomic responses of processing tomatoes to deficit irrigation applied at critical stages, a field experiment was conducted in a coastal site of Southern Italy, where seven irrigation treatments differing for daily evapotranspiration (ETc) restored (100%—full or 50%—deficit) and the time of watering (long-season or limited to the vegetative period or to flowering) were applied to processing tomatoes cv. Hypeel F1. Plants continuously irrigated and those irrigated only at flowering maintained higher rates of leaf transpiration (E) and stomatal conductance (gs) over those irrigated only during the vegetative period. Fruit yield was the greatest under long-season full irrigation (51 t ha−1). Severe soil water deficit during flowering, more than during the vegetative period, adversely affected crop productivity. Irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) was maximized under long-season deficit irrigation (>19 kg m−3) or deficit irrigation during flowering (>16 kg m−3). E and gs measured at early or mid-flowering may be adopted as valuable indicators to predict crop productivity; however, they may be altered under high vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Predawn water potential, being little affected by VPD, is a more reliable parameter than leaf transpiration and stomatal conductance under these climatic conditions.

Performance Evaluation of AquaCrop Model of Tomato under Stage Wise Deficit Drip Irrigation at Southern Ethiopia

“…The maximum WP ET was also found from those irrigation levels from the application of I50V × 100R which had no difference with I75V × 100R, I75F × 100R, and I75R × 100R in the calibration and validation season. This shows that applying stage deficit irrigation improves the yield and water productivity than applying FI [8,24,42,43,44,45,46].…”

Evaluating Tomato Performance: A Novel Approach of Combining Full and Deficit Irrigation with Saline Water

“…However, Nuruddin et al [29] found that the flowering and fruit setting stages were the most vulnerable to water deficiency, resulting in significantly lower yield, fruit size, and lower-quality fruit. Patanè et al [30] report that plants receiving full watering during flowering showed higher levels of leaf transpiration and stomatal conductance. Full irrigation resulted in the greatest fruit yield, while a severe water deficit during flowering lowered yields.…”

Relative Water Content, Proline, and Antioxidant Enzymes in Leaves of Long Shelf-Life Tomatoes under Drought Stress and Rewatering

“…Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an important horticultural crop widely spread all over the world. However, water stress, with flowering stage being the most sensitive to drought, may adversely affect its growth and productivity, leading to final low fruit yields [8]. Among several types of tomato, the local Mediterranean landraces of long shelflife tomato are traditionally cultivated under rain-fed conditions in the semi-arid regions of South Italy [9].…”