Abstract
Precise, accurate knowledge of percolation is key to reliable determination of soil water balance and a crop’s water-use efficiency. This work evaluated an approach to estimate the amount of water percolated in the root zone using soil water content (SWC) data measured at different time intervals. The approach was based on the difference of soil water content within and below the effective root zone of banana plants at different time intervals. A drainage lysimeter was used to compare the measured and estimated percolation data. The approach was then used in a banana orchard under drip and micro sprinkler irrigation, with and without the use of mulch. The soil water storage in the banana’s root zone was evaluated within a two-dimensional soil profile with time domain reflectometry (TDR). Mean percolation measured in the lysimeters did not differ from the approach’s estimates using intervals between SWC readings equal to or longer than 6 h from the end of an irrigation event. Percolation estimates under drip and micro sprinkler irrigation in the field, with and without mulch, were consistent with those measured in the lysimeters, considering the 6-h interval of SWC measurements. Percolation was greater under the drip irrigation system with mulch. The amount of water percolated was not influenced by the presence of mulch under the micro sprinkler system.
 Keywords: localized irrigation, soil water balance, soil water content sensor.
Highlights
Measuring water loss by percolation is fundamental in determining water application efficiency in irrigated crops, calculating soil water balance, dealing with drainage problems, and preventing contamination of groundwater (Chartzoulakis and Bertaki, 2015; Lai et al, 2016; Ferreira, 2017)
The availability of equipment for estimating the soil water content (SWC) with accuracy allows us to evaluate the processes of soil water dynamics like percolation under irrigated conditions (Ladekarl, 1998; Silva and Coelho, 2013)
Lysimeter percolation estimate Mean amounts of percolated water estimated by the approach based on readings of soil water content at intervals of six, eight, 10 or 12 hours between irrigation events were not significantly different from those measured in the lysimeter drains (Table 1)
Summary
Measuring water loss by percolation is fundamental in determining water application efficiency in irrigated crops, calculating soil water balance, dealing with drainage problems, and preventing contamination of groundwater (Chartzoulakis and Bertaki, 2015; Lai et al, 2016; Ferreira, 2017). Silva and Coelho (2013; 2014) and Santana Júnior et al (2021) used TDR probes to obtain continuous and automated SWC data in order to determine water percolation in drainage lysimeters. This work proposes an approach for determination of the percolated water depth between two irrigation events in a twodimensional soil profile near the plant This approach is based only on SWC readings in a whole profile both in the effective rooting zone and below it. The present work: (i) evaluated an approach for estimating percolation beneath the rooting zone of banana trees in lysimeter; and, (ii) determined the soil water balance components in banana trees effective root zone, grown with and without soil covering, under micro irrigation at field conditions, by applying the approach evaluated in a lysimeter (objective i)
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