The Effect of Depth of the Smart Artificial Subsurface Irrigation Pipes and the Distance on the Efficiency of the System Performance and Yield of Sunflower

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of pipes depth and the distance between them in the smart artificial subsurface irrigation system on the efficiency of the system performance and the yield of sunflower (Helianths annuus L.), in one of the fields of Al-Raed Research Station/Ministry of Water Resources located 25 km west Baghdad for the growing season 2022. Two factors were used in the experiment, the first factor included the depths of the subsurface irrigation pipes at three levels 10, 15, and 20 cm. The second factor included the between subsurface irrigation pipes at three levels 50, 60, and 70 cm. The characters studied were soil moisture content %., irrigation water amount, cm3 h-1. depth of irrigation water added cm, plant height cm, and sunflower grain yield ton ha-1. Nested system was used according to the randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates. The pipes depth was allocated to the main plot and the distance in the sub-plots. Least significant difference was used under the probability (LSD 0.05) to compare the averages of treatments. The results showed that the highest and lowest values of moisture content were 23.21 and 16.69 % for treatment depth 20 and distance 60 cm and treatment depth 10 and distance 70 cm, respectively. The highest and lowest values for irrigation water depth were 7.99 and 5.31 cm for the treatment depth 15 and distance 50 cm, and treatment depth 10 and distance 60 cm, respectively. The highest and lowest values for the amount of water consumed were 234.59 and 96.7 cm3 h-1 for treatments depth 10 and distance 50 cm, and treatment depth 20 and distance 60 cm, respectively. The highest and lowest values for plant height were 150.6 and 117.0 cm for the treatment depth 20 and distance 50 cm and treatment depth 10 and distance 70 cm, respectively. The highest and lowest values of grain yield were 4.97- and 2.62-ton ha-1 for treatments depth 20 and distance 50 cm and treatment depth 10 and distance 70 cm, respectively.