IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v298y2024ics0378377424002087.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Intelligent fertigation improves tomato yield and quality and water and nutrient use efficiency in solar greenhouse production

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Qunyan
  • Jia, Yifan
  • Pang, Zhongjun
  • Zhou, Jianbin
  • Scriber, Kevin Emmanuel
  • Liang, Bin
  • Chen, Zhujun

Abstract

Intelligent fertigation is a sustainable solution for optimising water and fertiliser input, thus minimising environmental pollution in vegetable cultivation facilities and reducing labour costs in agricultural practices. It is important to optimise irrigation scheduling parameters to specific crops to ensure water and nutrient use efficiency. A field experiment was conducted in Shouguang, Shandong Province, to investigate the effects of irrigation scheduling with different treatments (farmer drip irrigation FI, intelligent irrigation II1, and intelligent irrigation II2) on tomato growth, irrigation water and nutrient use efficiency over two growth seasons. Intelligent irrigation II1 and II2 utilised FDR sensors to control the moisture range within 80–95% and 80–85% field capacity (FC) for automatic irrigation scheduling, respectively. Intelligent irrigation (II1 and II2 treatments) reduced irrigation rate by 24.3–63.8% in comparison with FI treatment, significantly increasing total dry matter accumulation, nutrient uptake, yield and fruit quality of tomato. II2 treatment further reduced the irrigation rate by 31.6–32.3% compared to II1 treatment, with no significant difference in tomato yield and quality. Root dry matter, root-shoot ratio, 0–2 mm diameter root length and root surface area, 0–1.5 mm diameter root tips, and >3.5 mm diameter root volume were significantly increased under intelligent irrigation treatments. Positive correlations between irrigation water productivity; nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium use efficiency; and the indices of length, surface area, tips, and volume of roots were highly significant. Intelligent fertigation system (IFS) maintained soil moisture within a suitable range through high-frequency irrigation scheduling, promoted the growth of 0–2 mm diameter roots, which were responsible for absorbing, acquiring, and transporting water and nutrients in the soil, and reduced water loss and nutrient leakage. Taken together, the intelligent fertigation system presented herein is an effective fertigation strategy to improve irrigation water and nutrient use efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Qunyan & Jia, Yifan & Pang, Zhongjun & Zhou, Jianbin & Scriber, Kevin Emmanuel & Liang, Bin & Chen, Zhujun, 2024. "Intelligent fertigation improves tomato yield and quality and water and nutrient use efficiency in solar greenhouse production," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:298:y:2024:i:c:s0378377424002087
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2024.108873
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377424002087
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2024.108873?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. Migliaccio, Kati W. & Schaffer, Bruce & Crane, Jonathan H. & Davies, Frederick S., 2010. "Plant response to evapotranspiration and soil water sensor irrigation scheduling methods for papaya production in south Florida," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(10), pages 1452-1460, October.
    2. Jonas Jägermeyr & Amandine Pastor & Hester Biemans & Dieter Gerten, 2017. "Reconciling irrigated food production with environmental flows for Sustainable Development Goals implementation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, August.
    3. Bao, Lei & Zhang, Saifeng & Liang, Xinyu & Wang, Peizhou & Guo, Yawen & Sun, Qinghao & Zhou, Jianbin & Chen, Zhujun, 2023. "Intelligent drip fertigation increases water and nutrient use efficiency of watermelon in greenhouse without compromising the yield," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    4. Dou, Xiaoyu & Wang, Ruoshui & Li, Chaonan & Zheng, Chenghao & Zhou, Xuan, 2022. "Spatial distribution of soil water, plant roots, and water use pattern under different drip fertigation regimes in an apple-soybean intercropping system on the Loess Plateau, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    5. França, Ana Carolina Ferreira & Coelho, Rubens Duarte & da Silva Gundim, Alice & de Oliveira Costa, Jéfferson & Quiloango-Chimarro, Carlos Alberto, 2024. "Effects of different irrigation scheduling methods on physiology, yield, and irrigation water productivity of soybean varieties," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    6. Sensoy, Suat & Ertek, Ahmet & Gedik, Ibrahim & Kucukyumuk, Cenk, 2007. "Irrigation frequency and amount affect yield and quality of field-grown melon (Cucumis melo L.)," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(1-3), pages 269-274, March.
    7. Zotarelli, L. & Dukes, M.D. & Scholberg, J.M.S. & Muñoz-Carpena, R. & Icerman, J., 2009. "Tomato nitrogen accumulation and fertilizer use efficiency on a sandy soil, as affected by nitrogen rate and irrigation scheduling," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(8), pages 1247-1258, August.
    8. Zhang, Cheng-Yao & Oki, Taikan, 2023. "Water pricing reform for sustainable water resources management in China’s agricultural sector," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    9. Li, Haoru & Mei, Xurong & Wang, Jiandong & Huang, Feng & Hao, Weiping & Li, Baoguo, 2021. "Drip fertigation significantly increased crop yield, water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency with respect to traditional irrigation and fertilization practices: A meta-analysis in China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    10. Ierna, Anita & Pandino, Gaetano & Lombardo, Sara & Mauromicale, Giovanni, 2011. "Tuber yield, water and fertilizer productivity in early potato as affected by a combination of irrigation and fertilization," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 101(1), pages 35-41.
    11. Liao, Renkuan & Zhang, Shirui & Zhang, Xin & Wang, Mingfei & Wu, Huarui & Zhangzhong, Lili, 2021. "Development of smart irrigation systems based on real-time soil moisture data in a greenhouse: Proof of concept," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    12. Walaa El-Nashar & Ahmed Elyamany, 2023. "Adapting Irrigation Strategies to Mitigate Climate Change Impacts: A Value Engineering Approach," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 37(6), pages 2369-2386, May.
    13. Bwambale, Erion & Abagale, Felix K. & Anornu, Geophrey K., 2022. "Smart irrigation monitoring and control strategies for improving water use efficiency in precision agriculture: A review," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    14. Wang, Jingwei & Du, Yadan & Niu, Wenquan & Han, Jinxian & Li, Yuan & Yang, Pingguo, 2022. "Drip irrigation mode affects tomato yield by regulating root–soil–microbe interactions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    15. Wang, Jiangtao & Du, Gangfeng & Tian, Jingshan & Jiang, Chuangdao & Zhang, Yali & Zhang, Wangfeng, 2021. "Mulched drip irrigation increases cotton yield and water use efficiency via improving fine root plasticity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    16. Farneselli, Michela & Benincasa, Paolo & Tosti, Giacomo & Simonne, Eric & Guiducci, Marcello & Tei, Francesco, 2015. "High fertigation frequency improves nitrogen uptake and crop performance in processing tomato grown with high nitrogen and water supply," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 52-58.
    17. Zhang, Zhe & Liu, Shengyao & Jia, Songnan & Du, Fenghuan & Qi, Hao & Li, Jiaxi & Song, Xinyue & Zhao, Nan & Nie, Lanchun & Fan, Fengcui, 2021. "Precise soil water control using a negative pressure irrigation system to improve the water productivity of greenhouse watermelon," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    18. Li, Xiumei & Zhao, Weixia & Li, Jiusheng & Li, Yanfeng, 2021. "Effects of irrigation strategies and soil properties on the characteristics of deep percolation and crop water requirements for a variable rate irrigation system," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    19. Freire-González, Jaume & Decker, Christopher & Hall, Jim W., 2017. "The Economic Impacts of Droughts: A Framework for Analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 196-204.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Zhang, Youliang & Feng, Shaoyuan & Wang, Fengxin & Feng, Ren & Nie, Wei, 2022. "Effects of drip discharge flux and soil wetted percentage on drip irrigated potato growth with film mulch," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    2. Qu, Feng & Zhang, Qi & Jiang, Zhaoxi & Zhang, Caihong & Zhang, Zhi & Hu, Xiaohui, 2022. "Optimizing irrigation and fertilization frequency for greenhouse cucumber grown at different air temperatures using a comprehensive evaluation model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    3. Luo, Chengwei & Wang, Ruoshui & Li, Chaonan & Zheng, Chenghao & Dou, Xiaoyu, 2023. "Photosynthetic characteristics, soil nutrients, and their interspecific competitions in an apple–soybean alley cropping system subjected to different drip fertilizer regimes on the Loess Plateau, Chin," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    4. Wang, Han & Xiang, Youzhen & Zhang, Fucang & Tang, Zijun & Guo, Jinjin & Zhang, Xueyan & Hou, Xianghao & Wang, Haidong & Cheng, Minghui & Li, Zhijun, 2022. "Responses of yield, quality and water-nitrogen use efficiency of greenhouse sweet pepper to different drip fertigation regimes in Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    5. Li, Yinkun & Wang, Lichun & Xue, Xuzhang & Guo, Wenzhong & Xu, Fan & Li, Youli & Sun, Weituo & Chen, Fei, 2017. "Comparison of drip fertigation and negative pressure fertigation on soil water dynamics and water use efficiency of greenhouse tomato grown in the North China Plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1-8.
    6. Qin Liao & Jiangxia Nie & Huilai Yin & Yongheng Luo & Chuanhai Shu & Qingyue Cheng & Hao Fu & Biao Li & Liangyu Li & Yongjian Sun & Zongkui Chen & Jun Ma & Na Li & Xiaoli Zhang & Zhiyuan Yang, 2024. "Can the Integration of Water and Fertilizer Promote the Sustainable Development of Rice Production in China?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, April.
    7. Li, Haoru & Li, Xiaoli & Mei, Xurong & Nangia, Vinay & Guo, Rui & Hao, Weiping & Wang, Jiandong, 2023. "An alternative water-fertilizer-saving management practice for wheat-maize cropping system in the North China Plain: Based on a 4-year field study," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    8. Liu, Kai & Liao, Huan & Hao, Haibo & Hou, Zhenan, 2024. "Water and nitrogen supply at spatially distinct locations improves cotton water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency and yield under drip irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    9. Sharma, Sat Pal & Leskovar, Daniel I. & Crosby, Kevin M. & Volder, Astrid & Ibrahim, A.M.H., 2014. "Root growth, yield, and fruit quality responses of reticulatus and inodorus melons (Cucumis melo L.) to deficit subsurface drip irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 75-85.
    10. Liao, Renkuan & Zhang, Shirui & Zhang, Xin & Wang, Mingfei & Wu, Huarui & Zhangzhong, Lili, 2021. "Development of smart irrigation systems based on real-time soil moisture data in a greenhouse: Proof of concept," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    11. Mark Schoor & Ana Patricia Arenas-Salazar & Benito Parra-Pacheco & Juan Fernando García-Trejo & Irineo Torres-Pacheco & Ramón Gerardo Guevara-González & Enrique Rico-García, 2024. "Horticultural Irrigation Systems and Aquacultural Water Usage: A Perspective for the Use of Aquaponics to Generate a Sustainable Water Footprint," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-22, June.
    12. Bao, Lei & Zhang, Saifeng & Liang, Xinyu & Wang, Peizhou & Guo, Yawen & Sun, Qinghao & Zhou, Jianbin & Chen, Zhujun, 2023. "Intelligent drip fertigation increases water and nutrient use efficiency of watermelon in greenhouse without compromising the yield," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    13. Wang, Chenxia & Gu, Feng & Chen, Jinliang & Yang, Hui & Jiang, Jingjing & Du, Taisheng & Zhang, Jianhua, 2015. "Assessing the response of yield and comprehensive fruit quality of tomato grown in greenhouse to deficit irrigation and nitrogen application strategies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 9-19.
    14. Farneselli, Michela & Benincasa, Paolo & Tosti, Giacomo & Simonne, Eric & Guiducci, Marcello & Tei, Francesco, 2015. "High fertigation frequency improves nitrogen uptake and crop performance in processing tomato grown with high nitrogen and water supply," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 52-58.
    15. Ma, Kai & Wang, Zhenhua & Li, Haiqiang & Wang, Tianyu & Chen, Rui, 2022. "Effects of nitrogen application and brackish water irrigation on yield and quality of cotton," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    16. Yuan Li & Mingzhi Zhang & Zhenguang Lu & Yushun Zhang & Jingwei Wang, 2022. "Effects of Irrigation Strategy and Plastic Film Mulching on Soil N 2 O Emissions and Fruit Yields of Greenhouse Tomato," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, February.
    17. Du, Ya-Dan & Niu, Wen-Quan & Gu, Xiao-Bo & Zhang, Qian & Cui, Bing-Jing, 2018. "Water- and nitrogen-saving potentials in tomato production: A meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 296-303.
    18. Tang, Jiankai & Yang, Qiliang & Liang, Jiaping & Wang, Haidong & Yue, Xiulu, 2024. "Water management, planting slope indicators, and economic benefit analysis for Panax notoginseng production decision under shaded and rain-shelter cultivation: A three-year sloping fields experiment," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    19. Bonfante, A. & Monaco, E. & Manna, P. & De Mascellis, R. & Basile, A. & Buonanno, M. & Cantilena, G. & Esposito, A. & Tedeschi, A. & De Michele, C. & Belfiore, O. & Catapano, I. & Ludeno, G. & Salinas, 2019. "LCIS DSS—An irrigation supporting system for water use efficiency improvement in precision agriculture: A maize case study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    20. Katsoulas, N. & Sapounas, A. & De Zwart, F. & Dieleman, J.A. & Stanghellini, C., 2015. "Reducing ventilation requirements in semi-closed greenhouses increases water use efficiency," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 90-99.

    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:298:y:2024:i:c:s0378377424002087. 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.