Potential of partial rootzone drying as an alternative irrigation technique for potatoes (Solanum tuberosum)

Abstract

The increasing demands on limited water supplies worldwide require the adoption of more efficient irrigation techniques for sustainable production in agriculture. Partial rootzone drying (PRD) is one of the techniques that offer potential saving of irrigation water. This technique involves alternate irrigation to two sides of a plant root system. The studies reported here investigated PRD irrigation regimes and the optimum time of starting PRD in potatoes grown in a protected environment. In the first experiment, plants of the potato cv. Estima were exposed to five different irrigation treatments and a fully watered control at tuber initiation. The treatment that performed most similar to the control was alternate PRD to field capacity (APRD100). This treatment produced similar total leaf area, haulm fresh and dry weights, plant water status and no significant yield reduction compared with the control plants. The APRD100 treatment utilised 29% less water and increased water use efficiency (WUE) by 19%. In the second experiment, the APRD100 irrigation was started at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks after plant emergence. Vegetative growth and yield increased with the delay of the APRD100. APRD100 started at 6 weeks after emergence did not significantly reduce fresh tuber yield but received 21% less total water with a 19% increase in WUE. The results indicate that PRD may have potential use in the potato crop for conserving irrigation water with minimal loss of yield.

Pengaruh Pengairan Separuh Daerah Akar Terhadap Pertumbuhan Daun dan Kualitas Hasil Jeruk Siompu

“…Kondisi cuaca akan menentukan laju penguapan air (evapotranspirasi). Tingkat pembasahan dan pengeringan setiap bagian akar antara lain bergantung fase pertumbuhan, laju evaporasi, dan keseimbangan air tanah (Saeed et al 2008). Lebih lanjut Marsal et al (2008) menjelaskan bahwa perbedaan antara PRD (partial root zone drying) atau PSDA dan pengairan lainnya secara umum menunjukkan perbedaan laju evaporasi.…”

Effect of Deficit Irrigation and Root-Zone Drying Irrigation Technique under Different Nitrogen Rates on Water Use Efficiency for Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.) in Semi-arid Conditions (I)

“…Our results consent with those of Ben Nouna et al (2016) who showed that PRD60 treatment improved the WUE of potato by (10.9 and 10.2%) and (25.8 and 19.7%) compared to full irrigation and PRD80. Also, Saeed et al (2008) found that PRD irrigation used 29% less water and improved the WUE by 19%. Similarly, Xie et al (2012) reported that the PRD50 treatment used 50% less water and increased the WUE by 48%.…”

“…Sadras (2009), confirmed that the use of PRD irrigation and deficit irrigation have allowed a productivity increase of 82% and 76% respectively compared to conventional irrigation with a non-significant reduction in yield. Yang et al, (2011) studied for three years (2006)(2007)(2008), the water use efficiency of durum wheat under three different irrigation regimes of PRD (30,40 and 50% of the ETM). The results showed a significant improvement in water productivity from 12 to 71.4%.…”

Automatic controller to water plants

“…Water and nitrogen are two key resources considered main factors in limiting plant growth with approximately 70% of available water being used for irrigation (Medici et al, 2007;Parry, 2008, 2009;Saeed et al, 2008;Andrews et al, 2009;da Silva et al, 2009). Yet, the control of irrigation is barely precise (Souza and Folegatti, 2010).…”