Abstract
Storage of rainwater within the root depth zone is one of the modern ways to increase plant production. Subsurface water retention technology was applied to assess improving values of crop yield and crop water use efficiency, applying a membrane made of low-density polyethylene trough installed below the crop root zone. The goal of this paper is to assess that the retention of rainwater above the membrane can improve the crop yield and crop water use efficiency values for winter wheat. The experiment was conducted in open field, within Joeybeh Township, located in east of the Ramadi City, in Anbar Province, in winter growing season 2018-2019. Two plots T1 (with membrane trough) and T2 (without membrane) were used for the comparison and cultivated with winter wheat, where the rainwater was only the source of irrigation. At the end of the harvest stage the obtained results of crop yield and crop water use efficiency for plots T1 and T2 were; 0.35 kg/m2 and 1.66 kg/m3, and 0.28 kg/m2 and 1.28 kg/m3, respectively. The increasing value of crop yield and crop water use efficiency in plot T1 was about 25 % and 30 %, respectively more than plot T2. Benefits of the installation of membrane trough are to keep soil moisture for longer times, prevent the cracks of the soil surface and reduce the deep percolation losses.
Highlights
The drought, limited water supply, few agricultural lands, high fertilizer prices, and erosion of the soil are a major obstacle crop production
The goal of this paper is to evaluate the installing of the membrane trough blow the crop root zone of winter wheat on crop yield and crop water use efficiency when rain water was only the source of irrigation
The objective of this study is to evaluate the improvement of the crop yield and crop water use efficiency values by retaining the rainfall water above the membrane trough which installed below winter wheat root zone
Summary
The drought, limited water supply, few agricultural lands, high fertilizer prices, and erosion of the soil are a major obstacle crop production. The obtained results showed that the water use efficiency and water productivity was increased well in plot with installing the membrane trough by 148 % and 170 %, respectively comparing with plot without applying the SWRT. The objective of this study is to evaluate the improvement of the crop yield and crop water use efficiency values by retaining the rainfall water above the membrane trough which installed below winter wheat root zone. The novel matter in this work study comparing with others local studies (Almasraf and Hommadi, 2018), (Almasraf and Salim, 2018) and (Hommadi and Almasraf, 2019) is how efficient in installing the membrane trough below the winter wheat root profile to capture and hold the rainfall water and improving values of crop yield and crop water use efficiency
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
