IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v163y2016icp244-254.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Application of deficit irrigation to container-grown hardy ornamental nursery stock via overhead irrigation, compared to drip irrigation

Author

Listed:
  • Davies, Michael J.
  • Harrison-Murray, Richard
  • Atkinson, Christopher J.
  • Grant, Olga M.

Abstract

Growth control of container-grown hardy nursery stock generally requires substantial labour investment. Therefore the possibility of alternative growth control using deficit irrigation is appealing. Increasing water costs and limited availability of abstraction licences have added further incentives for nursery stock producers to use deficit irrigation. There are still, however, concerns that inherent non-uniformity of water uptake under commonly used overhead irrigation, and differing irrigation requirements of diverse crops and substrates, may limit the commercial relevance of a protocol developed for single crops growing in 100% peat and irrigated with a high precision drip system. The aim of this research was to determine whether growth control of hardy nursery stock is possible using deficit irrigation applied with conventional overhead irrigation. Over two years, crop growth under an overhead irrigation system was compared under full irrigation and two severities of deficit irrigation. Initially, two crops of contrasting canopy structure i.e. Cornus alba and Lonicera periclymenum were grown. In a subsequent experiment one crop (Forsythia×intermedia) was grown in two substrates with contrasting quantities of peat (60 and 100%). Deficit irrigation was found to be highly effective in controlling vegetative growth when applied using overhead irrigation—with similar results as when drip irrigation was used. This comparable response suggests that deficit irrigation can be applied without precision drip irrigation. Scheduling two very different crops with respect to their water use and uptake potential, however, highlighted challenges with respect to application of appropriate deficits for very different crops under one system; responses to deficit irrigation will be more consistent where nursery management allows for scheduling of crops with very different architecture and water use under different regimes. The effectiveness of deficit irrigation in controlling the growth of Forsythia was similar when a reduced peat based substrate was compared with pure peat; additionally, flowering was enhanced.

Suggested Citation

  • Davies, Michael J. & Harrison-Murray, Richard & Atkinson, Christopher J. & Grant, Olga M., 2016. "Application of deficit irrigation to container-grown hardy ornamental nursery stock via overhead irrigation, compared to drip irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 244-254.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:163:y:2016:i:c:p:244-254
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2015.09.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377415301086
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2015.09.015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Levidow, Les & Zaccaria, Daniele & Maia, Rodrigo & Vivas, Eduardo & Todorovic, Mladen & Scardigno, Alessandra, 2014. "Improving water-efficient irrigation: Prospects and difficulties of innovative practices," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 84-94.
    2. Li, Jiusheng, 1998. "Modeling crop yield as affected by uniformity of sprinkler irrigation system," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 135-146, December.
    3. Jensen, Christian R. & Battilani, Adriano & Plauborg, Finn & Psarras, Georgios & Chartzoulakis, Kostas & Janowiak, Franciszek & Stikic, Radmila & Jovanovic, Zorica & Li, Guitong & Qi, Xuebin & Liu, Fu, 2010. "Deficit irrigation based on drought tolerance and root signalling in potatoes and tomatoes," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(3), pages 403-413, December.
    4. Incrocci, Luca & Marzialetti, Paolo & Incrocci, Giorgio & Di Vita, Andrea & Balendonck, Jos & Bibbiani, Carlo & Spagnol, Serafino & Pardossi, Alberto, 2014. "Substrate water status and evapotranspiration irrigation scheduling in heterogenous container nursery crops," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 30-40.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Santos, Lucas C. & Coelho, Rubens D. & Barbosa, Fernando S. & Leal, Daniel P.V. & Fraga Júnior, Eusímio F. & Barros, Timóteo H.S. & Lizcano, Jonathan V. & Ribeiro, Nathália L., 2019. "Influence of deficit irrigation on accumulation and partitioning of sugarcane biomass under drip irrigation in commercial varieties," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 322-333.
    2. Abdi, Damon E. & Owen, James S. & Wilson, P. Christopher & Hinz, Francisca O. & Cregg, Bert & Fernandez, R. Thomas, 2021. "Reducing pesticide transport in surface and subsurface irrigation return flow in specialty crop production," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    3. Del Castillo Múnera, Johanna & Belayneh, Bruk & Ritsvey, Andrew & Koivunen, Emmi E. & Lea-Cox, John & Swett, Cassandra L., 2019. "Enabling adaptation to water scarcity: Identifying and managing root disease risks associated with reducing irrigation inputs in greenhouse crop production – A case study in poinsettia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kögler, F. & Söffker, D., 2017. "Water (stress) models and deficit irrigation: System-theoretical description and causality mapping," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 361(C), pages 135-156.
    2. Maroufpoor, Saman & Shiri, Jalal & Maroufpoor, Eisa, 2019. "Modeling the sprinkler water distribution uniformity by data-driven methods based on effective variables," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 63-73.
    3. Yang, Xin & Bornø, Marie Louise & Wei, Zhenhua & Liu, Fulai, 2021. "Combined effect of partial root drying and elevated atmospheric CO2 on the physiology and fruit quality of two genotypes of tomato plants with contrasting endogenous ABA levels," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    4. Koffi Djaman & Suat Irmak & Komlan Koudahe & Samuel Allen, 2021. "Irrigation Management in Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) Production: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, February.
    5. Zhao, Weixia & Li, Jiusheng & Li, Yanfeng & Yin, Jianfeng, 2012. "Effects of drip system uniformity on yield and quality of Chinese cabbage heads," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 118-128.
    6. Bopp, Carlos & Jara-Rojas, Roberto & Bravo-Ureta, Boris & Engler, Alejandra, 2022. "Irrigation water use, shadow values and productivity: Evidence from stochastic production frontiers in vineyards," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    7. Marjan Aziz & Madeeha Khan & Naveeda Anjum & Muhammad Sultan & Redmond R. Shamshiri & Sobhy M. Ibrahim & Siva K. Balasundram & Muhammad Aleem, 2022. "Scientific Irrigation Scheduling for Sustainable Production in Olive Groves," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, April.
    8. Incrocci, Luca & Marzialetti, Paolo & Incrocci, Giorgio & Di Vita, Andrea & Balendonck, Jos & Bibbiani, Carlo & Spagnol, Serafino & Pardossi, Alberto, 2019. "Sensor-based management of container nursery crops irrigated with fresh or saline water," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 49-61.
    9. Du, Shaoqing & Kang, Shaozhong & Li, Fusheng & Du, Taisheng, 2017. "Water use efficiency is improved by alternate partial root-zone irrigation of apple in arid northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 184-192.
    10. Mohammed Wazed, Saeed & Hughes, Ben Richard & O’Connor, Dominic & Kaiser Calautit, John, 2018. "A review of sustainable solar irrigation systems for Sub-Saharan Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1206-1225.
    11. Yang, Gaiqiang & Guo, Ping & Huo, Lijuan & Ren, Chongfeng, 2015. "Optimization of the irrigation water resources for Shijin irrigation district in north China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 82-98.
    12. Zhou, Xinyao & Zhang, Yongqiang & Sheng, Zhuping & Manevski, Kiril & Andersen, Mathias N. & Han, Shumin & Li, Huilong & Yang, Yonghui, 2021. "Did water-saving irrigation protect water resources over the past 40 years? A global analysis based on water accounting framework," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    13. Ørum, Jens Erik & Boesen, Mads Vejlby & Jovanovic, Zorica & Pedersen, Søren Marcus, 2010. "Farmers' incentives to save water with new irrigation systems and water taxation--A case study of Serbian potato production," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(3), pages 465-471, December.
    14. Geries, L.S.M. & El-Shahawy, T.A. & Moursi, E.A., 2021. "Cut-off irrigation as an effective tool to increase water-use efficiency, enhance productivity, quality and storability of some onion cultivars," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    15. Peragón, Juan M. & Pérez-Latorre, Francisco J. & Delgado, Antonio & Tóth, Tibor, 2018. "Best management irrigation practices assessed by a GIS-based decision tool for reducing salinization risks in olive orchards," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 33-41.
    16. Gonzalo Villa‐Cox & Francesco Cavazza & Cristian Jordan & Mijail Arias‐Hidalgo & Paúl Herrera & Ramon Espinel & Davide Viaggi & Stijn Speelman, 2021. "Understanding constraints on private irrigation adoption decisions under uncertainty in data constrained settings: A novel empirical approach tested on Ecuadorian Cocoa cultivations," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(6), pages 985-999, November.
    17. Yang, Jia & Ren, Wei & Ouyang, Ying & Feng, Gary & Tao, Bo & Granger, Joshua J. & Poudel, Krishna P., 2019. "Projection of 21st century irrigation water requirement across the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 60-72.
    18. Ireneusz Cymes & Ewa Dragańska & Zbigniew Brodziński, 2022. "Potential Possibilities of Using Groundwater for Crop Irrigation in the Context of Climate Change," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-14, May.
    19. Mondol, Md Anarul Haque & Zhu, Xuan & Dunkerley, David & Henley, Benjamin J., 2022. "Changing occurrence of crop water surplus or deficit and the impact of irrigation: An analysis highlighting consequences for rice production in Bangladesh," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    20. Li, Jiusheng & Rao, Minjie, 2003. "Field evaluation of crop yield as affected by nonuniformity of sprinkler-applied water and fertilizers," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 1-13, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:163:y:2016:i:c:p:244-254. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.