Abstract

Many irrigated areas of the Mediterranean such as Apulia region have problemsof high salinity of the irrigation water with a negative impact on soil fertility and onproduction. To limit these effects is necessary to minimize the supply of salt andpromote leaching, using an adequate irrigation management, which may varyaccording to climatic conditions, soil type and crop management.Yield results related to a two years trial of a grain maize crop, irrigated with furrowmethod and included in a four-year rotation (maize, sunflower, maize, wheat), arereported. This activity was carried out in Apulia, on a shallow red soil, resting onfissured calcareous rock, as part of multi-year research, with the aim to evaluate theinfluence of water quality and irrigation regime on the production of some crops andthe possibility that the rain water could leach solutes brought with irrigation water.Ten treatments, resulting from the factorial combination of two types of water (freshwater with electrical conductivity-ECw- of 1.2 dS m-1 and brackish water with ECwof 5 dS m-1) have been compared, with the following seasonal irrigation regimes:i) 75% of the maximum crop evapotranspiration (ETc); ii) 100% of ETc; iii) 100%of ETc, plus 50% of the needs of leaching (LR), calculated as: LR = ECw / (5 ECe- ECw), where ECw = electrical conductivity of irrigation water (dS m-1); ECe =electrical conductivity of the saturated extract of the soil; iv) 100% of ETc, plus 100%of LR, calculated as previously indicated; v) 100% of ETc until flowering, and 75% ofETc until the end of the crop cycle.It was adopted a split plot experimental design with four replications. Irrigation wasperformed when in the treatment irrigated at 100% of ETc, the matric potential of thewater in the layer of soil explored by the roots was equal to 0.1 MPa, providing theirrigation volume necessary to bring the matric potential to -0.03 MPa. In the firstyear there was no difference of corn production attributable to the water quality; inthe second year, however, due to the accumulation of solutes in the soil for threeconsecutive seasons, the yield of grain obtained in the plots irrigated with brackishwater, compared to those obtained in the plots irrigated with fresh water, have beenreduced by 33.3 % (6.8 vs 10.2 t ha-1). Moving from the lower irrigation volume, tothe most abundant (seasonal volume of irrigation sufficient to satisfy, respectively,75% and 100% of ETc, plus 100% of LR), as average of the two years, the yield ofgrain increased from 7.4 to 9.1 t ha-1.

Autore Pugliese

• Boari Francesca , Cantore Vito

Tutti gli autori

• Cucci G.; Lacolla G.; Boari F.; Cantore V.; Caranfa G.

Titolo volume/Rivista

Non Disponibile

Anno di pubblicazione

2015

ISSN

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ISBN

2-85352-549-X

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

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Numero di citazioni Scopus

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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