Riego de precisión para la eficiencia hídrica en la agricultura Mediterránea

Abstract

The present Doctoral Thesis is framed around the three axes of the efficient irrigation: water distribution system selection, determination of irrigation water needs and plant water status assessment. The experiment detailed in Chapter II is focused on the selection of the drip irrigation system better adapted to the peculiarities of citrus crops. The possible advantages of subsurface drip irrigation and the installation of irrigation laterals with higher density of emitters per plant were evaluated. Specifically, in the study was assessed the performance of the mandarin (Citrus clementina, Hort. Ex Tan. 'Arrufatina') under a surface (SI) and subsurface drip irrigation (SSI) with 7 (SI7, SSI7) or 14 emitters (SI14, SSI14) per plant, as well as a third SS treatment (SSIA), identical to SSI7 but equipped with an additional drip line buried between the tree rows. Treatments were assessed in terms of yield, fruit composition, water productivity (WP) and water savings. Results showed that, on average, water savings were 23.0% in the SSI treatment compared to the SI treatment without significant differences in either yield or fruit composition. SSIA was the treatment with the lowest irrigation volumes and the highest yield. Chapter III proposes a methodology for estimating irrigation water needs for mandarins based on the use of capacitance water content probes (e.f. FDR). The calculation procedure is defined in three sequential parts: i) soil water content thresholds determination adapted to plants requirements for different phenological stages; ii) standardizing measurements from capacitance probes by using a hydrological simulation software to minimize equipment uncertainty; and finally iii) an extrapolation procedure for adapting critical soil water content thresholds to different soil conditions. Validating this strategy in a citrus orchard (Citrus clementina, Hort. Ex Tan. 'Arrufatina') a water saving of 26% was reached without significant differences in yield and increasing the WP by 33%. In the experiments described in the Chapter IV a leaf turgor pressure sensor (Yara ZIM-probe) was evaluated as plant water status indicator in order to further asses the possibility to implement water status determinations in a more holistic irrigation scheduling approach. This technology, through a patch of an intact leaf and a pressure transductor, provides a signal (Pp) which is inversely correlated with the turgor pressure. The first experiment was made in Persimmon trees (Diospyros kaki L.f.). The turgor pressure sensor was assessed in an experimental plot with different irrigation doses and rootstocks with different drought tolerance [Diospyros lotus (L) and Diospyros virginiana (V)]. The information provided by the sensor was compared with concomitant measurements of midday stem water potential (?stem) and trunk diameter variations. Three states of leaf turgor associated with specific plant water status were established from the study of the Pp signal evolution together with the ?stem. Persimmon trees exhibited the inversed Pp curve phenomena under water stress (maximum values at night). Using the information from the sensors, it was possible to differentiate plant water status between rootstocks, pointing L as the most sensitive to the water deficit. The second experiment was made in mandarin (Citrus clementina, Hort. Ex Tan. 'Arrufatina'). Similarly, Pp values were compared with ?stem measurements. In this case, the curves practically did not suffer inversions when the plant water status was inadequate, but an increase in the minimum and maximum Pp values was recorded at night and at noon, respectively. There was a good correlation between the concomitant hourly spot measurements of ?stem and Pp that were taken at midday during two drought periods (coefficient of determination, r2 = 0.40 - 0.74). The analysed strategies and technologies have demonstrated that water use efficiency can be optimized at the plot level.