Late season deficit irrigation for water-saving: selection of rapeseed (Brassica napus) genotypes based on quantitative and qualitative features

ABSTRACT

To select and introduce the best rapeseed genotypes under withholding irrigation, two field experiments were carried out in seasons 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 in Iran. Factorial arrangement of treatments was set up as RCBD with three replications. The experiment factors were two irrigation treatments (normal irrigation during the growing season and withholding irrigation from silique setting stage until the end of the growing season) and 17 genotypes of rapeseed. Grain yield, oil content and fatty acid contents were measured. The results revealed that oleic acid (62.15%) was the highest followed by linoleic (19.28%), linolenic (5.65%), palmitic (5.24%) and stearic acids (2.44%). ODR (oleic desaturation ratio) and LDR (linoleic desaturation ratio) were significantly affected by genotypes and irrigation treatments. The biosynthetic pathway of fatty acids affected by drought stress. This means that linoleic acid increases under withholding irrigation condition, while linolenic acid decreases in such a water deficit stress condition. The highest performance of qualitative and quantitative was detected in HL3721 genotype due to high values of grain yield (3892.45 kg ha^?1), oil content (437.05 g kg^?1), unsaturated fatty acids (87.63%) and low values of saturated fatty acids (7.98%), and it could be used under withholding irrigation in arid and semi-arid climates.     

水氮互作对温室黄瓜光合特征与产量的影响

在日光温室内研究了水氮互作对黄瓜叶片不同生育期光合特征与产量的影响,分析了各生育期黄瓜光合速率与产量的关系。结果表明:光合速率、蒸腾速率在盛瓜期最高,而水分利用效率则在初瓜期达最高。习惯灌水条件下,施氮量的增加有助于光合速率和蒸腾速率的提高,其中以灌水7470m3·hm-2、施氮1200kg·hm-2时(W1N1200)最高,但与灌水5190m3·hm-2、施氮600kg·hm-2时(W2N600)无显著差异;叶片水分利用效率以减量灌水、减施氮50%处理(W2N600)为最高,是习惯水氮处理(W1N1200)的1.08倍,对照(W1N0)的1.24倍。水氮互作对黄瓜产量及产量构成因素具有显著影响,其中以减量灌水30%左右、减施氮50%的处理组合(W2N600)最优,黄瓜产量最高可达17.06×104kg·hm-2。黄瓜的光合速率与产量、瓜条数、单果重之间呈二次曲线关系,其中盛瓜期的拟合方程最好。     

Growth and Nutrient Use in Four Grasses Under Drought Stress as Mediated by Silicon Fertilizers

Field water stress is a common problem in crop production, especially in arid and semi-arid zones and it is widely hypothesized that silicon (Si) could reduce water stress in plants. We set up a greenhouse study to evaluate some silicon sources—potassium silicate (K₂SiO₃), calcium silicate (CaSiO₃) and silica gel for growth and nutrient uptake by four grass species under adequate and deficit irrigation. The four species studied were Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana), Timothy grass (Phleum pratense), Sudan grass (Sorghum sudanense) and Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). For all species, the biomass yield response to applied silicon under deficit irrigation was significantly better than under adequate irrigation. The yield response of Rhodes grass across silicon sources was 205% under deficit irrigation compared with only 59% under adequate irrigation; for Sudan grass it was 49% compared with 26% and for Timothy, it was 48% compared with a mere 1%. The higher responses under deficit irrigation suggest that the plants relied more on silicon to endure drought stress. Biomass yield of individual plants also differed according to soil water levels with Timothy grass being the most sensitive to water stress as it exhibited the highest yield response (209%) to adequate irrigation. This was followed by tall fescue (122%) and Rhodes grass (97%). Sudan grass was the least affected by deficit irrigation, possibly on account of improved root mass and its natural drought tolerance. Strong associations were noted between the uptake of silicon and those of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) irrespective of soil water condition, but the uptake of potassium (K) was more strongly correlated with that of Si under deficit than adequate irrigation. Improvements in plant growth following Si application could therefore be linked to enhanced uptake of major essential nutrients.     

Combined effect of deficit irrigation and foliar-applied salicylic acid on physiological responses,yield, and water-use efficiency of onion plants in saline calcareous soil

Field-applied salicylic acid (SA) could provide a potential protection against drought stress in onion large-scale production. Two-season field experiments were consecutively conducted in 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 to study the effect of 1 and 2 mM SA on growth, yield, plant water relations, chlorophyll a fluorescence, osmoprotectants, and water-use efficiency (WUE) in onion plants under four levels of irrigation (I₁₂₀ = 120%, I₁₀₀ = 100%, I₈₀ = 80%, and I₆₀ = 60% of crop evapotranspiration). Foliar application of SA enhanced drought stress tolerance in onion plants by improving photosynthetic efficiency and plant water status as evaluated by membrane stability index and relative water content. These results were positively reflected by improving plant growth, productivity, and WUE under drought stress conditions. Therefore, SA application may, in future, find application as a potential growth regulator for improving plant growth and yield under deficit irrigation by 20–40%.     

Evaluation of grain yield indices in hexaploid wheat genotypes in response to drought stress

Drought stress limits crop production in the world. Therefore, employing high-yielding cultivars tolerant to drought is an effective approach to reduce its detrimental effects. To identify drought-tolerant genotypes, 36 wheat genotypes were evaluated during the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 growth seasons. A field experiment was conducted in a split-plot design with two irrigation treatments (100% field capacity (FC) until harvest and no irrigation after anthesis) as main plots in three replications and genotypes as subplots. Grain yield, its components and drought tolerance indices were measured. Results showed a significant reduction in yield and its components under drought conditions. Grain yield had significant positive correlations with stress tolerance index (STI), mean productivity (MP) index and geometric mean productivity (GMP), while it was negatively correlated with stress susceptibility index (SSI) and tolerance index (TOL) under stress condition. These results indicated that superior genotypes could be selected based on high values of STI, MP and GMP and low value of SSI. The results were validated by principal component analysis (PCA) as it showed genotypes with high PC1 and low PC2 were more desirable. Based on the results, genotypes number 8, 11, 17, 30, 34 and 35 were recognized as suitable for both conditions.     

不同灌溉条件下不同类型冬小麦产量水分利用效率差异原因分析

以旱地品种"西峰20"和"晋麦47"、水旱兼用型品种"石家庄8 号"、高水肥地品种"石4185"和"科农9204"5 个冬小麦品种为材料, 通过田间不同灌溉处理试验研究了不同抗旱类型冬小麦品种收获指数和群体水分利用效率对产量水分利用效率的影响差异。结果表明: 不同抗旱类型的小麦在不同灌溉处理下, 产量水分利用效率(WUE_y)以及变化趋势存在显著差异。旱地冬小麦品种WUE_y 和收获指数(HI)显著低于水地品种和水旱兼用型品种。不同品种间WUE_y 最大相差42.01%, HI 相差25.91%。HI 和群体水分利用效率(WUE_bm)与WUE_y 呈显著正相关关系。株高与HI 呈显著负相关关系(R²=0.574)。在不灌溉条件下, 品种间WUE_y 差异源自HI 的差异; 而在补充灌溉条件下, 品种间WUE_y 的差异源自WUE_bm 和HI 的共同作用。说明不同抗旱类型的小麦对不同灌溉处理的响应方式和适应策略不同。旱地品种在干旱胁迫条件下, 主要靠增加WUE_bm 来提高WUE_y; 而水地品种和水旱兼用型品种在补充灌溉中凭借较高的WUE_bm 和HI 共同作用提高WUE_y。     

Leaf gas exchange and water-use efficiency of dry-land wheat genotypes under water stressed and non-stressed conditions

The objective of this study was to determine drought tolerance characteristics of dryland wheat genotypes based on leaf gas exchange and water-use efficiency in order to identify promising genotypes for drought tolerance breeding. Physiological responses of ten genetically diverse wheat genotypes were studied under non-stressed (NS) and water stressed (WS) conditions using a 2?×?10 factorial experiment replicated 3 times. A highly significant water condition?×?genotype interaction (P?<?0.001) was observed for photosynthetic rate (A), ratio of photosynthetic rate and internal CO₂ concentration (A/C_i), ratio of internal and atmospheric CO₂ (C_i/C_a), intrinsic (WUE_i) and instantaneous (WUE_inst) water-use efficiencies suggesting genotypic variability among wheat genotypes under both test conditions. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified three principal components (PC’s) under both test conditions accounting for 84% and 89% of total variation, respectively. Bi-plot analysis identified G339 and G344 as drought tolerant genotypes with higher values of A, T, gs, A/C_i, WUE_i and WUE_inst under WS condition. The current study detected significant genetic variation for drought tolerance among the tested wheat genotypes using physiological parameters. Genotypes G339 and G344 were identified to be drought tolerant with efficient A, T, gs, A/Ci and water-use under water stressed condition.     

不同灌水条件下分层施肥对冬小麦产量和水分利用效率的影响

为了明确分层施肥在不同灌水条件下对冬小麦产量、耗水特性和水分利用效率的影响,为黄淮海地区小麦高产高效生产实践提供理论依据。结合当地冬小麦灌溉制度采用水肥2因素裂区试验,水分为主区,施肥方式为副区,设置3个灌溉处理:春季不灌水(W_0)、春季拔节期灌水(W_1)、春季拔节期灌水+开花期灌水(W_2),灌水量90 mm/次;2种施肥方式处理:常规施肥处理(F_1)和分层施肥处理(F_2),分析了不同灌水与施肥模式下冬小麦产量、耗水特性和水分利用效率的特点。结果表明:与F_1相比,F_2处理40—120 cm土层土壤贮水消耗量、冬小麦拔节期—开花期耗水强度和农田耗水量显著增加,其中以W_2F_2处理农田耗水量最高。分层施肥处理冬小麦水分利用效率较常规施肥提升14.2%～3.0%,其中以W_1F_2处理水分利用效率最高。在3种灌水条件下,分层施肥处理较常规施肥显者增加了冬小麦的单位面积穗数,产量增加19.8%～6.4%,其中W_(2 )F_2产量最高。因此,建议在水分充足地区,采取小麦春季灌溉拔节水和开花水结合底肥分层施用的管理方式;在水资源短缺地区,采取小麦春季灌溉拔节水结合底肥分层施用的管理方式。     

Combined Application of Potassium and Zinc Improves Water Relations,Stay Green,Irrigation Water Use Efficiency,and Grain Quality of Maize under Drought Stress

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) plays an important role in the global food security, but its production is threatened by climate change, especially drought stress. Potassium (K) and zinc (Zn) are considered useful to mitigate the negative consequences of drought stress in plants. Therefore, the objective of this two-year study was to identify the best combination of K and Zn application to improve the water relations, photosynthetic pigments, yield, irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) and grain quality of maize sown under mild and severe drought stress conditions. The consisted of three drought stress levels viz. 1) well-watered as control (WW), 2) mild drought (MD) with 25?mm of potential soil moisture deficit (PSMD), 3) severe drought (SD) with 50?mm of PSMD and six K-Zn treatments: i.e. 125, 100 and 150?kg ha^?1 K with 0 and 12?kg ha^?1 Zn. The results indicated that K-Zn application improved the water relations and chlorophyll contents, biological yield and grain quality, irrespective of water stress treatment. The combined application of K-Zn under mild drought stress produced statistically same biological yield and grain quality as under well-irrigated without K-Zn fertilization and also produced compratively higher IWUE, biological yield and grain quality under sverer drought stress. Hence, the application of K at 150?kg ha^?1 in combination with Zn at 12?kg ha^?1 might be useful to improve the maize production and grain quality under drought stress. As IWUE was low in WW conditions, therefore, irrigation scheduling must be re-evaluated for optimum water use efficiency.     

Drought stress tolerance and photoprotection in two varieties of olive tree

Abstract

The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is adapted to tolerate severe drought and high irradiance levels. Relative electron transport rate (J), photosynthetic efficiency (in terms of F _v /F _m and Φ_PSII), photochemical (qP) and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) were determined in 2-year old olive plants (cultivars ‘Coratina’ and ‘Biancolilla’) grown under two different light levels (exposed plants, EP, and shaded plants, SP) during a 21-day controlled water deficit. After reaching pre-dawn leaf water potentials of about -6.5 MPa, plants were rewatered for 23 days. During the experimental period, measurements of gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence were carried out to study the photosynthetic performance of olive plants. The effect of drought stress and high irradiance levels caused a reduction of gas exchange, J, Φ_PSII and F _v/F _m and this decrease was more marked in EP. Under drought stress, EP showed a higher degree of photoinhibition, a higher NPQ and a lower qP if compared to SP. Coratina was more sensitive to high light and drought stress and had a slower recovery during rewatering. The results confirm that photoprotection is an important factor that affects photosynthetic productivity in olive, and that the degree of this process varies between the cultivars. This information could give a more complete picture of the response of olive trees grown under stressful conditions of semi-arid environments, and could be important for the selection of drought-tolerant cultivars with a high productivity.     

Oxidant related biochemical traits are significant indices in triticale grain yield under drought stress condition

Two separate experiments, one as drought stress conditions and the other one as the normal irrigation conditions based on randomized complete block design with three replications were implemented to examine 20 triticale (Triticoseclae wittamack X) genotypes of which 19 genotypes have recently been generated by crossing different parent lines and the other one was Javaniloo, a common cultivar. Based on the results of different statistical techniques and comparing relationships among traits for normal irrigation and stress condition, enzymatic antioxidant could be used as criteria for screening tolerant genotypes of triticale. On the other hand, it is pointed out that superoxide dismutase are the most important criteria to achieve higher tolerant genotypes through indirect selection. Furthermore, hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde content having high relationship with rain yield are also the different possible criteria for screening triticale genotypes for water stress conditions in which genotypes with lower content of these traits could be screened.     

Effects of drought stress on some agronomic and bio-physiological traits of Trititicum aestivum,Triticale, and Tritipyrum genotypes

ABSTRACT

Drought tolerance is a complex trait that involves different biochemical and physiological mechanisms in plants. It was the objective of the present study to evaluate the agronomic and biochemical responses of triticale, tritipyrum, and wheat to drought stress. For this purpose, twenty-seven genotypes were evaluated under two levels (non-stress and drought stress) of irrigation during 2015?2017. The metabolic traits studied included relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI), chlorophyll a (Chla), chlorophyll b (Chlb), carotenoids (Car), leaf proline content (Pro), leaf soluble carbohydrates (LSC), glycine betaine (GB), malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), seeds per spike (SS), seed weight (SW), biological yield (BY) and seed yield (SY). Drought stress increased Pro, LSC, and GB contents as well as lipid peroxidation through increasing MDA and H₂O₂ activities. However, both RWC and MSI indices as well as SS, SW, SY and BY reduced as a result of drought treatment although the least decrease of SY was observed at triticale group. During the two years of study, the tritipyrum genotypes exhibited their drought tolerance by accumulation of more LSC and GB as well as lower decrease in SW while the triticale ones responded by maintaining higher levels of RWC but producing less MDA and H₂O₂. It may, therefore, be concluded that the three species studied exploit different mechanisms to maintain tolerance against drought stress. Finally, correlation analysis indicated the positive effects of LSC on SY under both drought and normal conditions, which is obviously a promising trait in wheat, triticale, and tritipyrum that can be beneficially exploited in drought tolerance improvement programs.     

低氮和干旱胁迫对富士和秦冠生长及氮素利用的影响

【目的】以富士（Fuji）、 秦冠（Qinguan）嫁接在平邑甜茶（Malus hupehensis Rehd.）上的当年生盆栽苗为试验材料,采用砂培方法,研究了缺氮胁迫和干旱对富士和秦冠生长情况、 光合参数、 植株各部位氮磷钾含量及氮素利用效率的影响,分析比较了低氮干旱条件下富士和秦冠生长及氮素利用的差异,以期为果树生产高效肥水利用提供理论指导。【方法】试验共设四个处理: 正常氮正常水（ZZ）、 低氮正常水（DZ）、 正常氮干旱（ZG）、 低氮干旱（DG）。氮素和水分均设置两个水平,分别为正常氮（6 mmol/L NO-3-N）、 低氮（0.3 mmol/LNO-3-N）、 正常供水（保持盆中砂子相对含水量为饱和含水量的80%~85%）、 干旱处理（保持盆中砂子相对含水量为饱和含水量的60%~65%）。【结果】富士和秦冠的生物量（茎和叶）、 株高茎粗等生长指标以及光合速率、 气孔导度、 蒸腾速率均为正常氮正常水（ZZ）＞低氮正常水（DZ）＞正常氮干旱（ZG）＞低氮干旱（DG）,并且相对应处理下秦冠的以上指标均高于富士;正常供水下,缺氮处理使富士、 秦冠的根冠比比正常氮处理均有所增加,富士提高了2.05%,秦冠提高了22.40%。富士和秦冠的氮、 磷、 钾含量均表现出正常氮正常水（ZZ）＞低氮正常水（DZ）＞正常氮干旱（ZG）＞低氮干旱（DG）; 氮、 钾元素含量在植株各部位的分布顺序依次是叶＞根＞茎,磷元素则是根＞叶＞茎;光合氮素利用效率（PNUE）和氮素利用效率表现为秦冠处理之间差异极显著,富士处理之间差异不显著;秦冠的PNUE和NUE明显高于富士,在低氮正常水（DZ）处理下,秦冠氮肥利用率比富士高42.07%,在低氮干旱（DG）处理下高64.14%;低氮胁迫下富士和秦冠的NUE显著提高,并且秦冠提高的幅度高于富士。【结论】施用氮肥能够显著提高富士与秦冠的干物质量,同等水肥条件下,秦冠生长优于富士;水分亏缺会减少叶片对氮的吸收,干旱条件下适度增施氮肥,可提高果树的抗旱能力;低氮干旱胁迫下秦冠的生长指标、 光合指标及氮素利用效率指标均优于富士,表现出较强的抗低氮干旱胁迫的能力。     

Exogenous glycinebetaine application improves yield under water-limited conditions in hybrid sunflower

Limited water availability is a severe threat to the sustainability of crop production. Exogenous application of glycinebetaine (GB) has been found very effective in reducing the adverse affects of water scarcity. This study was conducted to examine the role of exogenous GB application in improving the yield of hybrid sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) under different irrigation regimes. There were three levels of irrigation: Control (four irrigations), three irrigations (irrigation missing at budding stage) and two irrigations (irrigation missing at budding and grain formation stage) in the experiment. While GB was applied exogenously at 100 mM GB each at budding and grain formation stages, the Control treatment did not receive any GB application. Data regarding yield, yield components and quality parameters showed that water stress reduced the head diameter, number of achene per head, 1000-achene weight and yield. Nonetheless, it was significantly improved by the exogenous GB application. Among the qualitative characteristics, protein contents were significantly increased by water stress at different growth stages but were reduced by exogenous GB application. Whilst oil contents were reduced by drought at different stages, GB application, however, did not ameliorate the negative effect of drought stress on achene oil contents. The effects of water stress and foliar application of GB were more pronounced when applied at vegetative stage than at the reproductive stage. Moreover, exogenous GB application was only advantageous under stress conditions.     

Foliar application of iron,zinc, and manganese nano-chelates improves physiological indicators and soybean yield under water deficit stress

Abstract

To investigate the effect of foliar application of nano-chelates of iron, zinc, and manganese subjected to different irrigation conditions on physiological traits, and yield of soybean (cultivar M9), a split plot experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design with three replications in two crop years (2016–2017). The main plot included four levels of irrigation (I): full irrigation (I ₁), irrigation withhold at flowering stage (I ₂), irrigation withhold at podding stage (I ₃), and irrigation withhold during the grain filling period (I ₄). Also, the subplot included eight levels of foliar application with Fe, Zn, Mn, Fe?+?Zn, Fe?+?Mn, Zn?+?Mn, Fe?+?Zn?+?Mn nano-chelates, and distilled water (control). The results of combined analysis of variance suggested that the effect of irrigation and foliar application of nano-chelate was significant on all traits. Water deficit stress significantly reduced the grain yield. The minimum numbers of pods per plant, number of grains per plant, 100-seed weight per plant, leaf area index, leaf chlorophyll concentration, total dry weight of plant, and the grain yield were obtained by irrigation withhold at podding stage. Foliar application of combined nano-chelates increased the soybean resistance against water shortage more considerably than the separate consumption of these elements. Under drought stress in podding stage, the application of Fe?+?Zn led to the highest yield with a mean of 2613.84?kg ha^?1 where this increase was 61.1% higher than control.     

Assimilate and nitrogen remobilization of six-rowed and two-rowed winter barley under drought stress at different nitrogen fertilization

Field experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of irrigation regimes and N levels on assimilate remobilization of two barley cultivars (Yousef_six-rowed and Nimrouz_two-rowed) in 2011 and 2012. There were three levels of water regimes (full irrigation (I₁₀₀), 75% and 50% of I₁₀₀: I₇₅ and I₅₀, respectively) in 2011. Rain-fed treatment (I₀) was included in 2012. Three N levels (0, 60, and 120 kg ha^?1) were used. Grain yield and assimilate remobilization decreased by severe water stress (I₀), however, the reduction of them were intensified by N fertilizer application. The N remobilization was negatively affected by N fertilization and water stress. The two-rowed showed higher N remobilization (10.7%) and contribution of N remobilized to N content of grain (5.8%) than the six-rowed. The two-rowed cultivar showed significantly higher assimilate remobilization and grain yield than the six-rowed under I₅₀ (26.3% and 6.5%, respectively) and I₀ (48.7% and 17.1%, respectively), while the six-rowed had similar or higher performances in terms of these traits under I₁₀₀ and I₇₅. This study showed that optimizing irrigation and N rates (decrease N level with increasing water stress) and selection of the suitable cultivars (Nimrouz_two-rowed) might increase assimilate remobilization and consequently grain yield under drought stress conditions.     

Evaluation of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes for yield and related traits under drought stress conditions

ABSTRACT

Drought is a major factor threatening crop production worldwide. Developing wheat varieties that are adapted to drought prone environments is a sustainable strategy to improve wheat production and productivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate and select bread wheat genotypes for yield and yield components, and for stability under drought stress and non-stress conditions. One hundred and twenty genotypes were evaluated at five test sites in the 2018/19 cropping season using a 10 x 12 alpha lattice design with two replicates. The level of drought stress was imposed using different sowing dates (early planting representing non-stressed, while late planting as drought stressed conditions) following the onset of the main rain at each site. Grain yield and yield components were recorded, and drought indices were calculated for each genotype. Among the drought tolerance indices, GMP, MP, HM, STI and YI were found to be the most suitable for predicting drought tolerance because they had significant and positive correlations with yield under drought stress and non-stress conditions. Rank sum analysis identified the most drought tolerant genotypes as ‘YS-34', ‘YS-85' and ‘YS-82’. The selected wheat genotypes are useful genetic resources for future drought tolerance breeding programmes in Ethiopia or similar agro-ecologies.     

Effects of Different Irrigation Regimes and Mulches on Yield and Macronutrition Levels of Drip-Irrigated Cucumber Under Open Field Conditions

ABSTRACT

The effectiveness of different mulch types on fruit yield, leaf-nutrient composition, and normal plant growth parameters was investigated in order to maximize water use efficiency (WUE) in cucumber grown under water stress. Treatments were (1) bare soil + water stress (WS), (2) bare soil + unstressed (control, C), (3) black polyethylene mulch + water stress (BPM + WS), (4) wheat straw mulch + water stress (WSM + WS), and (5) wheat straw mulch plus black polyethylene mulch + water stress (WSM + BPM + WS). Seasonal crop evapotranspiration was between 492 and 960 mm. Seasonal irrigation water amounts were 965 and 485 mm for the C and WS treatments, respectively. The WUE ranged from 3.40 to 5.78 kg m^?3, while irrigation water-use efficiency (IWUE) was between 3.39 and 6.08 kg m^?3. IWUE and WUE were increased under WS treatments with mulching compared with the control treatment, as mulching significantly reduced the amount of irrigation water required. Both BPM and WSM improved the fruit yield, fruit size, plant dry matter, total leaf area, and chlorophyll and nutrient concentrations in leaves under the stressed treatments, while these two mulches in combination (BPM + WSM) caused further increases in these parameters. This study confirms that limiting soil evaporation with mulches is a key action to take to save irrigation water and to improve WUE and IWUE. Because use of drip irrigation with mulching can increase WUE, this strategy might be used for vegetable production in semi-arid regions where irrigation water is limited.     

Changes in yield and gas exchange parameters in Festulolium and alfalfa grown in pure sowing and in mixture under drought stress

Crop performance and yield are the results of genotypic expression as modulated by continuous interaction with the environment. Among environmental factors, water is globally one of the most limiting for crop production. Water resources in the world are steadily diminishing and in many areas, including Poland, more frequent periods of drought are being observed. The aim of the study was to compare the yields and gas exchange parameters of Festulolium hybrid (Festulolium braunii (K. Richt) A. Camus) and alfalfa (Medicago?×?varia T. Martyn) under different levels of soil moisture (well-watered conditions and drought stress) and cultivation method (pure stand and mixture). The study has shown that all the measured parameters were affected by drought stress. Net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and dry mass yield were significantly lower under drought stress than under well-watered conditions in all treatment types. Alfalfa grown in a pure sowing showed the strongest reaction to stress, while hybrid Festulolium grown in mixture showed the weakest. It was also found that under stress, grass assimilated CO₂ and evaporated water much more intensively in mixture cultivation than in pure sowing. Higher water use efficiency (WUE) was observed in alfalfa and Festulolium growing in mixture only in the first year of the study.     

塔里木盆地西北缘区密植核桃的滴灌水肥适宜用量

[目的]确定核桃主产区塔里木盆地西北缘区滴灌条件下核桃水肥适宜用量,实现核桃园水肥高效利用,为当地密植核桃滴灌水肥投入量提供指导。[方法]以9 a生密植新温"185"核桃树为研究对象,设置3个灌水量(W_1:375 mm; W_2:435 mm; W_3:495 mm)和3个施肥量(F_1:2 250 kg/hm~2; F_2:4 500 kg/hm~2; F_3:9 000 kg/hm~2。其中尿素:磷酸一铵1∶1.25),在新疆阿克苏红旗坡农场新疆农业大学林果实验基地开展滴灌核桃大田试验,研究滴灌条件下水肥耦合对核桃产量、品质及水肥利用效率的影响,建立了水肥投入量与产量及灌溉水利用效率的二元回归模型。[结果]灌水和施肥对核桃硬核期、油脂转化期和成熟期土壤硝态氮、核桃产量、品质和水肥利用率的影响均达显著水平(p0.05);水肥耦合效应对核桃产量和水肥利用率有显著性影响(p0.05);硬核期和油脂转化期为核桃的需肥关键期;F_3处理施肥量造成了土壤硝态氮的累积;W_2和W_3处理对滴灌核桃品质、产量和肥料偏生产力的影响无显著性差异,均与W_1差异显著;施肥处理对核桃出仁率、产量和水肥利用效率的影响均达显著水平。[结论]新疆环塔盆地滴灌密植核桃全生育期适宜的水肥投入范围分别为438～469 mm(包含冬春灌)和7 074～7 168 kg/hm~2,其中尿素3 144～3 186 kg/hm~2,磷酸一铵3 930～3 982 kg/hm~2。