Productivity and water saving of ‘Fortune’ plum under different water regimes

Abstract

This study was conducted over four consecutive years (2015-2018) in the Sefrou region of Morocco, between Sais and the Middle Atlas Mountains. The goal of the study was to assess how plum trees respond to three different irrigation strategies: a normal supply of water (T2) to meet 100% of crop water needs; an irrigation deficit (T1) that provides only 75% of the water needs; and an additional water supply of 25% (T3) above the crop needs. The study found that deficient irrigation (T1) had no significant effect on plum yield or average fruit weight at harvest, but an excess water supply of 25% (T3) over the requirements (T2) resulted in higher yields and average fruit weight than the control. T3 also showed an increase in fruit size at harvest compared to the control, but not in T1 compared to T2. However, the excess water input for T3 did not justify the excess yield in terms of water use efficiency (WUE). On the other hand, T1 maintained the same level of production as the control while saving water, which resulted in a higher WUE compared to T2 and T3..