Tomato Production and Soil Salt Distribution under Line-Source Trickle Irrigation1

Yield of red cherry tomatoes and soil salt distribution as affected by different amounts and salinities of irrigation water was studied in a field plot experiment during the summer of 1988 at Utah State University. Four different amounts of fresh water and two amounts of saline water were imposed with line source trickle irrigation on a sandy loam soil in lysimeters. Tomato yield and seasonal evapotranspiration increased in a linear fashion with increasing irrigation water. Tomato yields with fresh water (EC = 0.33 dS/m) were significantly higher than with saline (EC = 4.0 dS/m) water. There were no significant differences in seasonal evapotranspiration between the two salinity levels with two levels of deficit irrigation. Soil water depletion and availability decreased as the soil water salinity increased. Soil water salinities increased with both vertical and horizontal distance from trickle lines and reached a maximum at the bottom of the wetted area and between trickle lines.