Can Sustained Deficit Irrigation Save Water and Meet the Quality Characteristics of Mango?

Leontina Lipan,Baltasar Gálvez Ruiz,Francisca Hernández,Simón Cuadros Tavira,Esther Sendra,Belén Cárceles Rodríguez,Ángel A Carbonell-Barrachina,Aarón A Carbonell-Pedro,Víctor Hugo Durán-Zuazo,Dionisio Franco Tarifa,Raquel Muelas,Iván Francisco García-Tejero

doi:10.3390/agriculture11050448

Abstract

Mango is one of the most cultivated tropical fruits worldwide and one of few drought-tolerant plants. Thus, in this study the effect of a sustained deficit irrigation (SDI) strategy on mango yield and quality was assessed with the aim of reducing irrigation water in mango crop. A randomized block design with four treatments was developed: (i) full irrigation (FI), assuring the crop’s water needs, and three levels of SDI receiving 75%, 50%, and 33% of irrigation water (SDI75, SDI50, and SDI33). Yield, morphology, color, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), organic acids (OA), sugars, minerals, fiber, antioxidant activity (AA), and total phenolic content (TPC) were analyzed. The yield was reduced in SDI conditions (8%, 11%, and 20% for SDI75, SDI50, and SDI33, respectively), but the irrigation water productivity was higher in all SDI regimes. SDI significantly reduced the mango size, with SDI33 generating the smallest mangoes. Peel color significantly changed after 13 days of ripening, with SDI75 being the least ripe. The TA, AA, and citric acid were higher in SDI75, while the TPC and fiber increased in all SDI levels. Consequently, SDI reduced the mango size but increased the functionality of samples, without a severe detrimental effect on the yield.

Highlights

Taking into account the irrigation water applied per tree in each treatment, an irrigation water productivity of 3.8, 4.7, 5.9, and 6.4 kg m3 was reached for control, SDI75, SDI50 and SDI33, respectively
full irrigation (FI) mangoes reached a longitudinal diameter of 155 mm with a width and thickness of 98 and 82 mm, followed by SDI75 (146, 95, an1 mm, respectively) and SDI50 (143, 91 and 77 mm) with similar length between them, even though the SDI75 was more similar to the control in terms of width and thickness
Similar results were observed for the weight, where FI is the treatment with the highest weight (681 g), followed by SDI75 (586 g) and SDI50 (540 g), and the lowest value being that of SDI33 (455 g)

Summary

Introduction

Food production demand has been continuously on the rise and is projected to increase by up to 50% by 2050 [1]. Using less irrigation water in agriculture could be one of the actions to meet the proposed challenge because the water crisis is one of the top five key global risks in terms of impact, and agriculture is the dominant user of water, consuming 70% of the world’s available water. It is well-known that water abundance is the main factor in improving land productivity, agricultural performance, and even food security. It is crucial to optimize irrigation water by using strategies designed to preserve fruit quality and yield at the same time

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Conclusion