Potato Water Use Efficiency Research Articles

Effects of the frequency and amount of drip irrigation on yield, tuber quality and water use efficiency of potato in sandy soil of Yulin, northern Shaanxi, China

Reasonable irrigation is still lacking for potato production in the sandy areas of Yulin, northern Shaanxi Province. To solve this problem, field drip fertigation was conducted to examine the growth, yield and quality of potato during the whole growing season. We further analyzed the responses of these indices to different irrigation frequencies and amounts. There were three irrigation frequencies (d), i.e. 4 (D1), 8 (D2) and 10 (D3), and three irrigation amounts, i.e. 60%ETc (W1), 80%ETc(W2) and 100%ETc(W3), where ETc was the crop water requirement, resulting in a total of nine treatments. Under the same irrigation frequency, plant height, leaf area index, dry matter, tuber yield and economic benefits of W3 were higher than those of W1 and W2. W1 had the highest irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), while water use efficiency was not significantly affected by irrigation amount. The average tuber yield of W3 was 43442 kg·hm-2, which was 23.3% and 11.6% higher than that of W1 and W2, respectively. The net income of W3 was 23492 yuan·hm-2, which was 40.4% and 18.7% higher than that of W1 and W2, respectively. Tubers from W3 had the highest starch and vitamin C contents but the lowest reducing sugar content, which were 14.4%, 18.54 mg·(100 g)-1 FW and 0.7%, respectively. At the same irrigation amount, tuber yield, IWUE, starch and vitamin C contents of D1 were the highest, but the reducing sugar content was the lowest at the low and medium irrigation amounts. At the high irrigation amount, D2 had the highest tuber yield, IWUE, net income, starch and vitamin C contents but the lowest reducing sugar content, which were 46572 kg·hm-2, 23.04 kg·m-3, 26,622 yuan·hm-2,14.6%, 19.53 mg·(100 g)-1 FW and 0.7%, respectively. Based on the interacting effects of drip irrigation frequency and amount, both yield and quality of D2W3 reached the maximum. Results from the principal component analysis showed that D2W3 had the highest score. D2W3(8 d, 100%ETc) had the greatest yield and quality and relatively higher water use efficiency, which was thus considered as the optimal combination of drip irrigation frequency and amount. The results could provide a scientific basis for the drip irrigation scheduling design for high-yield, high-efficiency and high-quality potato production in the sandy areas of Yulin, northern Shaanxi.

Interactive effects of autumn tillage with mulching on soil temperature, productivity and water use efficiency of rainfed potato in loess plateau of China

Low precipitation and temperature fluctuations are key limiting factors that influence the potato tuber yield in rainfed areas of the Loess Plateau, China. The implementation of tillage with mulching during fallow after the autumn harvest may be an effective management strategy to help reduce soil evaporation and conserve more soil water for spring sown potato. We conducted a three-year field experiment in a semiarid area of the Loess Plateau in 2014–2015, 2015–2016, and 2016–2017 to study the interactive effects of autumn tillage and mulching practices during fallow on the soil temperature, moisture, tuber yield, and water-use efficiency of potato. The treatments comprised three tillage systems in the main plots, i.e., no-tillage (NT), subsoiling (ST), and plowing tillage (PT), and three mulching methods in the subplots, i.e., straw mulch (SM), plastic-film mulch (PM), and no mulch (NM), in a replicated split plot design. Autumn tillage with mulching during fallow significantly influenced the soil water storage, especially in the early growing season of potato. Among the mulching methods, SM and PM increased the mean soil water storage by 6.3% and 5.9% (P < 0.05), respectively, compared with the NM plots. Conservation tillage combined with PM (NT×PM and ST×PM) significantly increased the topsoil temperature, whereas conservation tillage combined with SM (NT×SM and ST×SM) significantly decreased the temperature, which could have improved the topsoil conditions for potato tuber yield formation in the three experimental years. Among the tillage systems, the PM plots increased the mean topsoil temperature by 2.4°C (P < 0.05), whereas the SM plots reduced the temperature by 3.0°C (P < 0.05) during the whole period. The beneficial effects of the changes in moisture and temperature in the PM and SM plots improved the tuber yield of potato, in comparison with NM plots. Tillage and mulching had significant interaction effects on the potato tuber yield and water-use efficiency. The highest mean potato tuber yields were obtained in the ST×SM and NT×SM treatments, respectively, which were 41.0% and 35.3% higher (P < 0.05) than those with the PT×NM treatment. The three-year mean water-use efficiency increased significantly by 50.5% and 39.9% (P < 0.05) under the ST×SM and NT×SM treatments, respectively, and the three-year mean rainwater-use efficiency increased by 30% and 29% (P < 0.05) when compared with CT×NM treatment. Overall, our findings demonstrate that conservation tillage with SM and PM significantly increased the potato tuber yield and water-use efficiency. Considering the years with warm and dry climate conditions, we recommend conservation tillage with SM may be a more efficient method for improving the potato productivity, WUE and RUE in the semiarid region of the Loess Plateau.

Mulching improves yield and water-use efficiency of potato cropping in China: A meta-analysis

China is the world's largest producer of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Potato productivity in China is limited by water shortage. Mulching applications can effectively modify the plant hydrothermal micro-environment. However, the impacts of mulching on potato yield vary with climatic conditions and field managements. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of plastic mulching and straw mulching on the yield and water-use efficiency (WUE) of potato cropping in China using data obtained from 131 peer-reviewed publications. The results showed that plastic mulching and straw mulching increased potato yield in average by 24.3% and 16.0%, respectively. The effects of mulching on the WUE of potato were also improved by 28.7% (plastic mulching) and 5.6% (straw mulching). At regional scale, plastic mulching performed better in Northeast China and Northwest China, while straw mulching performed better in Southwest China and South China. The yield and WUE of potato in response to mulching were affected by the mean growing season air temperature, water input, soil basic fertility and fertilizer applications. When compared to non-mulching control, the improvements of yield and WUE in potato were higher at mean air temperatures of 15–20 °C than at temperatures below 15 °C or above 20 °C during the growing season for both mulching practices. Increase in potato yield under black film was significantly higher than that under transparent film when air temperature was over 20 °C. Potato yield and WUE increases in mulching treatments were greater in areas with a water input of <400 mm than in areas with a water input of >400 mm. The mean effects of mulching on the yield of potato were greater at relatively low (<100 kg ha−1) or moderate (100–200 kg ha−1) N rates than at high (>200 kg ha−1) N rates. Similar trends were observed for P and K rates. In conclusion, this meta-analysis demonstrated that mulching increases the yield and WUE of potato in China and that the adoption of mulching practices should be site specific.

Investigating Water Use Efficiency of Potato in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province Compared to Alternate Furrow Irrigation Method, Iran

Investigating Water Use Efficiency of Potato in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province Compared to Alternate Furrow Irrigation Method, Iran

Comparative effects of two water-saving irrigation techniques on soil water status, yield, and water use efficiency in potato

This study was conducted to compare two water-saving techniques: deficit irrigation (DI) and partial root-zone drying (PRD) with full irrigation (FI) on potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). These techniques were studied using drip irrigation in an arid region of Saudi Arabia in 2014 and 2015. Five irrigation treatments, i.e., FI (control treatment where the full amount of irrigation water was applied to both sides of the plant), DI70, DI50 (70% and 50% of the FI treatment, respectively, supplied to both sides of the plant), PRD70, and PRD50 (70% and 50% of the FI treatment, respectively, supplied to a single side of each plant in an alternating manner), were applied. The dry and wet sides of the plant in the PRD treatments were switched weekly. The soil water content was the highest in the FI treatment followed by DI70 and PRD70 and DI50 and PRD50 thereafter in 2014 and 2015. The fresh weight of the vegetative parts for both the FI and PRD70 treatments (average of 14.7Mgha−1 and 11.9Mgha−1, respectively) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of the other irrigation treatments. The FI and PRD70 treatments increased (p<0.05) the dry weight of the vegetative parts by approximately 48.3%–57.7% relative to the other treatments in 2014. The highest number of branches per plant occurred in the PRD treatments, and the lowest number was in the DI70 treatment. The DI and PRD treatments decreased (p<0.01) the fresh and dry tuber yield compared to FI. The FI produced the highest number of tubers per plant. The DI treatments did not have a significantly lower irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) compared to FI in 2014, whereas PRD had significantly (p<0.01) lower IWUE than FI in both years.

Exploring possibilities of enhancing water use efficiency in potato: A review

Climate change threatens the global agriculture sustainability. Among different kinds of abiotic stresses, water stress is the most devastating component which curtails potato crop productivity. Our recent knowledge is limited concerning water stress tolerance and water use efficiency in potato. Many efforts are being made by the scientific community to reduce water use and to produce “more crop per drop”. This review elaborates quantitative and qualitative aspects of multiple stress mechanisms and their regulating system related to present scenario of water use efficiency (WUE) requirements. WUE can only be improved by using multidisciplinary promising research approaches like molecular breeding, high throughput genotyping, multi-gene transfer and bioinformatics applications to unleash the information needed to exploitation of required traits in potato.

In-situ soil water dynamics under different irrigation methods in North East India

Availability of in-situ soil water plays a major role in exploiting the potential yield of crops under irrigated conditions. Depending on type of irrigation, variations of soil water is mostly observed at different soil depths within the root zone. The deviation of soil water at the edaphic zone becomes a deciding factor in assuring optimum yield. As availability of irrigation water is a great concern during non-rainy season, water saving irrigation techniques need to be adopted to maximize the productivity under hilly terrain. An experiment was laid out with potato as a test crop under the valley region of Meghalaya plateau on sandy clayey soil to study in-situ soil water dynamics under three different irrigation methods viz. furrow, micro-sprinkler and gravity-fed drip. Irrigation was scheduled at every weekly basis to restore back the soil water required to achieve the field capacity. Mean value of soil water up to 15 cm depth was 21.75, 22.65 and 23.45%, however, range (minimum to maximum) was 16.21-29.17; 15.56-29.21 and 17.84-28.97% for furrow, micro-sprinkler and gravity-fed drip irrigation, respectively. Co-efficient of variation was found to be the maximum (4.65%) for furrow over other two types of irrigations during the weekly interval. Deviation of in-situ soil water was found to vary rapidly at upper layer (30 cm) under furrow method of irrigation; but at deeper soil layer rapid variation was not observed. Water use efficiency of potato was evaluated to be 14.66, 18.78, 20.63 kg ha-1 mm-1 for furrow, micro-sprinkler and gravity-fed drip irrigation, respectively.

Effect of Partial Root-Zone Drying Irrigation Technique (PRD) on the Total Dry Matter, Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Potato under Tunisian Semi-Arid Conditions

&lt;p&gt;Three field experiments were conducted in the plot of Technical Centre for Potato and Artichoke during three cropping season 2009, 2010 and 2011.The objective of this research is to evaluate the effect of the partial root-zone drying irrigation technique (PRD) on the dry matter, yield, water consumption and water use efficiency of potato (Spunta Variety). Four treatments were applied from the initiation of tuberisation stage to potato harvesting: FI treatment received 100% of Etc; PRD&lt;sub&gt;80&lt;/sub&gt;, PRD&lt;sub&gt;70&lt;/sub&gt;, and PRD&lt;sub&gt;60&lt;/sub&gt; treatments received respectively: 80, 70 and 60% of FI at each irrigation event and it was shifted between the two sides of the plants every 2 to 10 days. The highest water consumption was observed in FI as 336.5, 376, and 341.8 mm in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively, and the lowest was found in PRD&lt;sub&gt;60&lt;/sub&gt; as 280.4, 294.5, and 256.1 mm in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively. The maximum tuber yield was obtained from the FI as 25.6, 42.9 and 39.1 tha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt;, in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively. There was no significant difference between FI and PRD&lt;sub&gt;60&lt;/sub&gt; with respect to tuber yields (LSD 5%).The highest water use efficiency (WUE&lt;sub&gt;Y&lt;/sub&gt;) was found in PRD&lt;sub&gt;60&lt;/sub&gt; as 13.4 kg m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt;, in the second experiment (2010) and the lowest was found in PRD&lt;sub&gt;80&lt;/sub&gt; as 6.8 kg m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt; in the first experiment (2009). In the other hand, a linear relation between the accumulated total dry matter and the accumulated water consumption was able to be revealed.&lt;/p&gt;

Yield and water use efficiency of furrow irrigated potato under regulated deficit irrigation, Atsibi-Wemberta, North Ethiopia

The pressure on availability of water in Tigray regional state is likely to increase as the requirement for food production in couple with rapidly growing of the population is at increasing rate. Hence, improving water productivity using regulated deficit irrigation is important to reduce the water consumption while minimizing adverse effects on the crop yield. This study was conducted in the eastern zone of Tigray regional state, Atsibi Womberta district. The aim of this study was to determine the yield and water use efficiency of potato under deficit irrigation practice in the 2012 growing period. The effect of water deficit or water stress on crop yield and water use efficiencies were evaluated. Guasa variety potato was grown under eight (T1–T8) irrigation treatments. The treatments were replicated three times under completely randomized blocks experimental design. Water was applied to every furrow using watering can with fixed interval and variable depth irrigation scheduling technique was selected. Yield of potato was significantly (p<0.05) affected by water stress (deficit irrigation). The highest yield was found in T1 (18770kg/ha) which was not subjected to water stress (full water requirement) whereas minimum yield of potato was obtained under the fully stressed treatment T8 (7037kg/ha). There was no significant different between the yield of T1 (18770kg/ha) and T6 (14440kg/ha) which was 25% deficit throughout the growing season. According to the result obtained, stressed at the middle stage was affected more the yield of potato as compared to other treatments. This showed that stressing the crop at flowering/middle stage is sensitive to deficit irrigation. Giving 65% of crop water requirement throughout the growing season is better than stressing the crop only at the middle stage. The second sensitive period for water stress is the late crop stage. Crop water use efficiency was not statistically significant. Though it was not significantly different, T6 (2.86kg/m3) and T4 (1.60kg/m3) had the highest and the lowest water use efficiency respectively. This elaborated that applying 75% of crop water requirement has better water use efficiency than optimal or “no stress” irrigation. It can be conclude that using deficit irrigation is a good water management technique to save irrigation water without reducing the yield of potato. For dry land areas like The Tigray regional state of Ethiopia and other similar agro-ecology elsewhere in the world with scarce water and agricultural water management is very poor. The authors of this study would like to recommend farmers, water managers, water use associations and decision makers to use water efficiently using deficit irrigation and increase their agricultural production by expanding irrigable land with the same amount of water in a given irrigation scheme

Cytosolic glutamine synthetase is important for photosynthetic efficiency and water use efficiency in potato as revealed by high-throughput sequencing QTL analysis.

Key messageWUE phenotyping and subsequent QTL analysis revealed cytosolic GS genes importance for limiting N loss due to photorespiration under well-watered and well-fertilized conditions.Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) closes its stomata at relatively low soil water deficits frequently encountered in normal field conditions resulting in unnecessary annual yield losses and extensive use of artificial irrigation. Therefore, unraveling the genetics underpinning variation in water use efficiency (WUE) of potato is important, but has been limited by technical difficulties in assessing the trait on individual plants and thus is poorly understood. In this study, a mapping population of potatoes has been robustly phenotyped, and considerable variation in WUE under well-watered conditions was observed. Two extreme WUE bulks of clones were identified and pools of genomic DNA from them as well as the parents were sequenced and mapped to reference potato genome. Following a novel data analysis approach, two highly resolved QTLs were found on chromosome 1 and 9. Interestingly, three genes encoding isoforms of cytosolic glutamine synthase were located in the QTL at chromosome 1 suggesting a major contribution of this enzyme to photosynthetic efficiency and thus WUE in potato. Indeed, Glutamine synthetase enzyme activity of leaf extracts was measured and found to be correlated with contrasting WUE phenotypes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00122-015-2573-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

EFFECT OF MULCHING TYPE AND DURATION ON THE PRODUCTIVITY AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY OF POTATO

Field experiments were conducted during the winter season of 2014/2015 at EL- Tahrir Provence, Behera Governorate, west of Nile Delta of Egypt to study the effect of mulching type and duration on the productivity and water use efficiency of potato. Sixteen treatments comprising of four level of mulching (no- mulch (MO) - Rice straw mulch (RSM), Black polyethylene (BPM) and transparent polyethylene (TPM)) and four mulching time (T1-T4) were investigated. All treatments were repeated three times in complete randomized block design. Soil temperature, soil water content, seasonal water applied and seasonal crop evapotranspiration were monitored throughout the growing season, while the harvested potato tuber were weighted and sampled to determine some quality parameters. Results revealed that, mulching practices influenced the soil temperature. Applying Rice straw mulch moderates the soil temperature throughout the growing season and offered the most favorable potato growing condition. In contrast, polyethylene mulch materials increased the soil mean temperature by about 4-5 °C throughout the growing season which hampered tuber initiation, bulking and consequently the total potato tuber yield. Both mulching types and duration affects potato tuber yield, quality and water use efficiency. RSMT4 treatment had the maximum tuber number per plant, tuber mass, tuber yield, starch and total soluble solids (TSS) content of 8.14, 105.35 g, 17.45 Mg/fed., 14.68 and 5.63%, respectively as compared with the other mulched and non- mulched treatments. Retaining the polyethylene mulch materials up to the end of growing season negatively influenced the growth parameters, tuber yield and the measured quality parameters. Concerning the seasonal applied water (SAW) and crop evapotranspiration (ETC), MO treatment had the maximum SAW and ETC values of 522 and 438 mm, respectively. Mulching practices saved irrigation water by 14.08, 19.65 and 18.48% with RSM, BPM and TPM, respectively as compared with the control treatment. RSMT4 treatment had the maximum irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) and water use efficiency (WUE) of 10.39 and 13.02 kg/m3,respectively. However, BPM and TPM mulch materials inhabited the maximum IWUE and WUE values of 10.03, 12.54 and 7.89 and 8.89 kg/m3, respectively when it was retained over the soil surface up to the end of the tuber formation stage (T3), suggesting that the PM should be removed early in order to avoid their negative effects on the tuber yield, quality and water use efficiencies.

Impact of Irrigation Systems, Fertigation Rates and Using Drainage Water of Fish Farms in Irrigation of Potato under Arid Regions Conditions

Two field experiments were carried out during growing seasons 2011 and 2012, it executed in research farm of National Research Center in Nubaryia region, Egypt to study the effect of irrigation systems, fertigation rates and using the wastewater of fish farms in irrigation of potato crop under sandy soil conditions. Study factors were irrigation systems (sprinkler irrigation system ―SIS‖ and drip irrigation system ―DIS), water quality (irrigation water ―IW‖ and drainage water of fish farms ―DWFF‖) and fertigation rates (FR1= 20%, FR2= 40%, FR3= 60%, FR4 = 80% and FR5= 100% from recommended dose from NPK).The following parameters were studied to evaluate the effect of study factors:(1) Chemical and biological description of drainage water of fish farms. (2) Clogging ratio of emitters (3) Yield of potato, (4) water use efficiency of potato. Statistical analysis of the effect of the interaction between study factors on yield, water use efficiency of potato indicated that, maximum values were obtained of yield of potato under SIS x FR5 x DWFF, also indicated that, there were no significant differences for yield values under the following conditions: SIS x FR5 x DWFF > SIS x FR4 x DWFF > SIS x FR3 x DWFF > DIS x FR5 x IW this means that ruse drainage water of fish farming as a new resource for irrigation and rich with organic matter and it can improve soil quality and crops productivity and reduce the total costs of fertilizers by adding minimum doses from minerals fertilizers and sprinkler irrigation system is the best irrigation system which can be used..

Sustainable Mangement of Drainage Water of Fish Farms in Agriculture as a New Source for Irrigation and Bio-Source for Fertilizing

Two field experiments were carried out during growing seasons 2011 and 2012. It was executed in research farm of National Research Center in Nubaryia region, Egypt to study the effect of irrigation systems, fertigation rates by using the wastewater of fish farms “WWFF” in irrigation of potato. Study factors were irrigation systems (sprinkler irrigation system “SIS” and trickle irrigation system “TIS”), water quality (traditional irrigation water “TIW” and WWFF) and fertigation rates “FR” (20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% NPK). The following parameters were studied to evaluate the effect of study factors: 1) Calculating the total amount of WWFF per season; 2) Chemical and biological description of WWFF; 3) Clogging ratio of emitters; 4) Yield of potato; 5) Irrigation water use efficiency of potato “IWUEpotato”. Statistical analysis indicated that, maximum values were obtained of yield under SIS × FR100% NPK × WWFF, also, there were no significant differences for yield values under the following conditions: SIS × FR100% NPK × WWFF > SIS × FR80% NPK × WWFF > SIS × FR60% NPK × WWFF > TIS × FR100% NPK × TIW. This means that, using WWFF in the irrigation can save at least 40% from mineral fertilizers and 100% from irrigation water under sprinkler irrigation system.

Effect of ridge–furrow and plastic-mulching planting patterns on yield formation and water movement of potato in a semi-arid area

Field experiments were conducted to study the effects of different ridge–furrow plastic-mulching planting patterns (RFM) on potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) growth, tuber yield and quality, and water use efficiency (WUE) in an arid area of Northwestern China in 2010 and 2011.Six treatments were used: (1) a flat plot without mulch (CK); (2) alternating mulched with plastic film and bare plots with no ridges (MNR); (3) completely mulched alternating wide and narrow ridges with furrow planting (CF); (4) completely mulched alternating wide and narrow ridges with ridge planting (CR); (5) alternating mulched ridges and bare plots with no ridges and with furrow planting (HF); (6) alternating mulched ridges and bare plots with no ridges and with ridge planting (HR).RFM systems greatly improved tuber yield and WUE of potato in comparsion to CK. Compared to CK, the magnitude of yield in RFM increase were 50.1–86.8% in 2010 and 36.3–60.5% in 2011, respectively. Two completely mulched treatments (CF, CR) produced the highest tuber yield. Compared to CK, the highest increase in WUE was 83.9% (CR) and 65.8% (CF) in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Evapotranspiration in RFM was significantly decreased compared to CK during the early and end growing stages. But ET in CF, CR, HF and HR became higher at vigorous growth stages (from 6 July to 27 August) due to higher transpiration, which may imply a higher ratio of transpiration/evaporation. CF and CR treatments resulted in higher dry matter and relative growth rate than other treatments, and had higher output efficiency of dry matter from aboveground to tuber. Potato in CR showed the highest tuber yield, output value, net revenue and WUE, produced tubers with good size, low percentages of green and blemished tubers, and high protein content. In conclusion, CR is the best planting pattern for rain-fed potato.

Effect of New Irrigation Technology on the Physiology and Water Use Efficiency of Potato by Reclaimed Water Irrigation

Agriculture is a big consumer of fresh water in competition with other sectors of the society. The agricultural sector continues to have a negative impact on the ecological status of the environment. The worlds interest in high quality food is increasing. Field experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of subsurface drip irrigation on physiological responses, yield and water use efficiency, Soil nitrogen, Root weight density of potato in the semi-humid region of middle China using subsurface drip irrigation. The experiment used second-stage treated wastewater with and without addition of chloride, and both subsurface drip and furrow irrigations were investigated. Results indicated that the alternate partial root-zone irrigation is a practicable water-saving strategy for potato. The drip with chlorinated and non-chlorinated water improved water use efficiency by 21.48% and 39.1%, respectively, and 44.1% in the furrow irrigation. Partial root zone drying irrigation stimulates potato root growth and enhances root density. The content of the heavy metal in the potato tubers is no more than the National Food Requirements, and it is consistent with National Food Hygiene Stands.

Response to climate change for potato water use efficiency in semi-arid areas of China

The drought trend of China's semi-arid areas has dramatically intensified in the past 50 years as a result of global climate change, which clearly affects crop production and water use. This paper, selecting the semi-arid area of Guyuan in China as the research base, is a study of the impact of climate change on potato water use efficiency (WUE), using temperature rise and precipitation simulation testing. The results showed that when temperature increased by >1.5°C and precipitation was <310.0mm, WUE tended to decline. This indicates that the global climate change in the next 50years may have an impact on potato WUE in semi-arid areas of China.

Effects of Different Drip Irrigation Systems on Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Potato in Intercropping System of Cotton and Potato

Effects of Different Drip Irrigation Systems on Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Potato in Intercropping System of Cotton and Potato

Effects of Limited Supplemental Irrigation with Catchment Rainfall on Rain-fed Potato in Semi-arid Areas on the Western Loess Plateau, China

In semi-arid areas on the Western Loess Plateau, China, crop growth has been greatly limited by water supply. The comparative wet season in the region runs from July through September, and about 60 % of the yearly precipitation total falls within this period. Rainfall is very sparse from November of the preceding year through June of the following year. Water harvesting agriculture has been shown to be one of the most efficient ways to increase water use efficiency (WUE) and crop productivity for wheat, corn, broccoli etc. however, research on WUE in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), one of the dominant crops in the area, is sparse. Field experiments on supplemental irrigation (amount and timing) using catchment rainfall were carried out in both 2008 and 2009 in Dingxi, a typical potato growing area, for the purpose of determining effective utilization of the limited supplemental irrigation water for potatoes. Soil water storage, evapotranspiration (ET), WUE, irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), tuber yield and size and starch and protein contents were determined in this research. The results showed that both ET and tuber yield increased with supplemental irrigation, consequently WUE was improved. IWUE appeared to be better with 45 mm of irrigation applied at the vegetative growth stage and tuber yield was increased by 7–18 % compared to the treatment without irrigation (T1), and WUE and IWUE were significantly higher than other treatments in both years. Compared to the control, WUE with 45 mm of irrigation at the vegetative growth stage increased by 1.28 % and 2.17 % in 2008 and 2009, respectively. In addition, 45 mm of irrigation at the vegetative growth stage also increased the percentage of large tubers, and the sum of large and medium tubers. Tubers under such practice were of acceptable size and had the highest protein content. Therefore, we conclude, 45 mm of supplemental irrigation at the vegetative growth stage is the best way to use the limited available supplemental irrigation water from catchment rainfall for rain-fed potatoes grown in semi-arid areas on the Western Loess Plateau of China. Applying more water, or at a later growth stage of potato, was less effective.

Water use efficiency of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) under different irrigation methods and potassium fertilizer rates

This study was conducted to determine the effect of different irrigation methods and potassium fertilizers on potato yield in the Abu–Graib–Baghdad, Iraq Region, during season 2011–2012. Potato was grown under furrow and drip irrigation methods and three potassium fertilizers rates applied with 0.0, 300 and 600kg K2SO4ha−1. The obtained results indicated that, actual potato evapotranspiration ranged from 357.3 to 511.4mm in the growth season for all treatments. Furrow and drip irrigation methods had no significant effect on tuber yield under the experiential conditions. Potassium fertilizer influenced the tuber yield (P<0.05), and the highest tuber yield was registered for 600kg K2SO4ha−1, reaching 35.23Tha−1and 36.65Tha−1for furrow and drip irrigation, respectively. Water use efficiency increased from 5.129 to 7.379kgm−3 for furrow-irrigated treatments, and from 6.907 to 10.257kgm−3 for drip-irrigated treatments using the above mentioned rate of K-fertilizer.

Yield and water use efficiency of potato grown under different irrigation and nitrogen levels in an arid region

Water and nitrogen supply in potato cropping systems is an essential factor for controlling production level especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Shortage water availability and escalating irrigation costs along with high prices of fertilizers have caused attention to adopt practices to improve water and N use efficiency. The present work was conducted to assess the interaction effect of different amounts of water (W) and nitrogen (N) applied through drip irrigation on potato production, water use efficiency (WUE), nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and total N uptake in an arid region. Potato plants were subjected to four irrigation treatments, 100% (W1.0), 80% (W0.8), 60% (W0.6) and 40% (W0.4) of crop ET (evapotranspiration) and four N levels, 160 (N160), 220 (N220), 280 (N280) and 340(N340)kgNha−1. Plants grown under full irrigation supply resulted in the highest tuber yield and there were significant reductions in total yield and yield components when applying less amount of water. Tuber weight was more sensitive to water deficit than tuber number, where the decrease in potato yield in the deficit water treatments was mainly due to a decrease in tuber weight (R2=0.982). Except for tuber number per plant, application of N adversely affected yield and yield components, when N level applied above 280kgNha−1 at W0.6, and above 220kgNha−1 at W0.4, respectively. The WUE was improved by N supply, but its effect decreased as the irrigation level increased. The WUE at W1.0, which produced the highest tuber yield, was 146kgha−1mm−1 with N340 but this increased to 195kgha−1mm−1 at W0.4 with N220. The NUE was affected greatly by the applied N amount and increased as the N level was decreased. The highest NUE value 176kgyieldkg−1N was obtained at W1.0 treatment with N160 but this decreased to 136kgyieldkg−1N with N340. The uptake of N increased with increase in the level of N applied up to the highest level but the reverse was true for N recovery. These results suggested that potato in an arid climate region can be cultivated with acceptable yields while saving irrigation water and reducing nitrogen supply but it is essential to exploit the interaction effect between these two factors to maximize resource use efficiency.