Threshold Values of Plant Water Status for Scheduling Deficit Irrigation in Early Apricot Trees
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Experimental Site and Design
- Control (CTL), irrigated at ~100% of the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) during the entire crop cycle.
- Regulated deficit irrigation 1 (RDI1), irrigated as CTL, except during fruit growth stages I–II when irrigation was reduced by 20% of CTL, and from July onwards in late post-harvest, when an irrigation threshold of approximately −1.5 MPa of stem water potential (Ψs) was used, corresponding to a moderate water stress [10].
- Regulated deficit irrigation 2 (RDI2), irrigated as CTL, except during fruit growth stages I–II when irrigation was reduced by 20% of CTL, and from July onwards in late post-harvest, when an irrigation threshold of approximately −2.0 MPa of Ψs was used, corresponding to a severe water stress [10].
2.2. Weather Conditions
2.3. Plant Water Status
2.4. Yield Parameters and Water Productivity
2.5. Fruit Quality Traits
2.6. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Weather and Irrigation
3.2. Plant Water Status
3.3. Fruit and Trunk Growth
3.4. Yield and Irrigation Water Productivity
3.5. Fruit Quality
3.6. Effect of Water Stress on Crop Agronomic Response and Water Productivity
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Season/ Treatment | Yield | Fruit Load | Fruit Weight | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(kg Tree−1) | (Fruits Tree−1) | (g FW) | (kg m−3) | (kg m−3) | ||
2015/16 | CTL | 123.2 | 2041 | 60.3 | 4.40 | 3.75 |
RDI1 | 134.5 | 2336 | 57.6 | 5.31 | 4.46 | |
RDI2 | 119.2 | 1923 | 62.6 | 5.26 | 4.33 | |
2016/17 | CTL | 101.0 | 1711 | 59.0 | 3.77 c | 2.73 c |
RDI1 | 99.7 | 1686 | 59.1 | 4.51 b | 3.09 b | |
RDI2 | 95.9 | 1636 | 58.7 | 5.37 a | 3.43 a | |
Season (S) | *** | ** | ns | ns | *** | |
Treatment (T) | ns | ns | ns | *** | * | |
S × T | ns | ns | ns | ns | ns |
Season/ Treatment | Firmness | TA | TSS | MI | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(kg cm−2) | (%) | (°Brix) | (TSS/TA) | ||
2015/16 | CTL | 7.4 | 1.29 | 10.1 | 7.8 |
RDI1 | 7.3 | 1.26 | 10.5 | 8.0 | |
RDI2 | 7.2 | 1.27 | 10.2 | 8.3 | |
2016/17 | CTL | 7.3 | 1.24 | 9.80 | 7.9 |
RDI1 | 7.1 | 1.23 | 10.3 | 8.4 | |
RDI2 | 6.8 | 1.24 | 9.80 | 7.8 | |
Season (S) | ns | ns | ns | ns | |
Treatment (T) | ns | ns | ns | ns | |
S × T | ns | ns | ns | ns |
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Temnani, A.; Berríos, P.; Zapata-García, S.; Espinosa, P.J.; Pérez-Pastor, A. Threshold Values of Plant Water Status for Scheduling Deficit Irrigation in Early Apricot Trees. Agronomy 2023, 13, 2344. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13092344
Temnani A, Berríos P, Zapata-García S, Espinosa PJ, Pérez-Pastor A. Threshold Values of Plant Water Status for Scheduling Deficit Irrigation in Early Apricot Trees. Agronomy. 2023; 13(9):2344. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13092344
Chicago/Turabian StyleTemnani, Abdelmalek, Pablo Berríos, Susana Zapata-García, Pedro J. Espinosa, and Alejandro Pérez-Pastor. 2023. "Threshold Values of Plant Water Status for Scheduling Deficit Irrigation in Early Apricot Trees" Agronomy 13, no. 9: 2344. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13092344