[Effects of alternative partial rootzone irrigation on peach growth, productivity, and water use efficiency].
Taking 12-year-old peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch cv. Ruiguang 5) as test material, this paper studied the effects of alternative partial rootzone irrigation (APRI) on its growth, productivity, and water use efficiency under semi-arid climate condition. The results showed that in APRI treatments, the soil water content in the wet side of peach tree decreased with increasing soil depth, while that in the dry side was in adverse, with the maximal difference appeared in 0-25 cm soil layer. In the treatments of APRI with an interval of 2 and 4 weeks, the leaf water potential at pre-dawn was lower than that in the control (sufficient irrigation), but with the time prolonged, this potential in all treatments tended to decrease, and had no significant difference in the afternoon. The peach yield in APRI treatments was 10% lower than that in the control, but the irrigation amount was reduced by 50%, and the water use efficiency was increased by 75%. APRI significantly limited the shoot growth of peach tree, but had no obvious effect on the fruit diameter.
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Horticultural Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai' an 271018, Shandong, China. sl-songlei@163.com
Lei
L
Song
Yu-Ling
YL
Yue
Fang-Kun
FK
Di
Qin-Ping
QP
Wei
Zhao-Quan
ZQ
Gao
Ji-Xiang
JX
Zhang
D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D018533:Biomass; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000378:metabolism*; D027861:Prunus / Q000254:growth & development*; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism*
D012987:Soil; D014867:Water