A smart capillary barrier-wick irrigation system for home gardens in arid zones

Al‐Mayahi, Ahmed; Al-Ismaily, Said; Al‐Maktoumi, Ali; Al‐Busaidi, Hamed; Kacimov, A. R.; Janke, Rhonda R.; Bouma, J.; Šimůnek, Jirka

doi:10.1007/s00271-020-00666-3

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Wongkaew et al [12] confirmed the performance of HYDRUS-1D in predicting soil water contents and evaluated the impacts of alternative irrigation schedules under uniform irrigation on root zone moisture conditions in a CB soil column. Most recently, Al-Mayahi et al [13] studied the influences of soil substrates made of Smart Capillary Barrier Wick, containing silt loam blocks enclosed by sand-sheaths and irrigated with a sand wick cylinder.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Analysis of Soil Water Dynamics during Spinach Cultivation in a Soil Column with an Artificial Capillary Barrier under Different Irrigation Managements

Sao

Saito

Kato

et al. 2021

Water

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Artificial capillary barriers (CBs) are used to improve root zone conditions as they can keep water and nutrients in the root zone by limiting downward percolation. Numerical analysis is one of the promising tools for evaluating CB systems’ performance during the cultivation of leafy vegetables. This study aims to investigate the effects of the CB system on soil water dynamics during spinach cultivation in a soil column under different irrigation scenarios using HYDRUS (2D/3D) by comparing uniform (UNI), line-source (LSI), and plant-targeted (PTI) irrigations combined with alternative irrigation schedules. Simulation results of volumetric soil water contents were generally corresponding to measured data. Simulation results with various hypothetical irrigation scenarios exhibited that the CB was an effective system to diminish percolation losses and improve the root zone’s soil water storage capacity. On the other hand, evaporation loss can be increased as more water is maintained near the surface. While this loss can be significantly minimized by reducing the water application area, the irrigation amount must be carefully defined because applying water in a smaller area may accelerate downward water movement so that the water content at the CB interface can reach close to saturation. In addition to the malfunction of the CB layer, it may also cause a reduction of plant root water uptake (RWU) because the root zone is too wet. Among evaluated irrigation scenarios, irrigating every two days with PTI was the best scenario for the spinach as water use efficiency was greatly improved.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Analysis of Soil Water Dynamics during Spinach Cultivation in a Soil Column with an Artificial Capillary Barrier under Different Irrigation Managements

Sao

Saito

Kato

et al. 2021

Water

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“…The reservoir cake and low‐permeable fine‐textured strata under the reservoir‐wadi bed act as perched aquifers such that the plant roots hunt for these subsurface water pockets (Noy‐Meir, 1973). The accumulated silt cake has a low salinity (ECe = 1.14 dS/m, see Al‐Maktoumi et al, 2014) and is used as an ameliorating amendment to the so‐called ‘constructozems’ of smartly designed soil substrates in local farms and home gardens (Al‐Mayahi et al, 2020 and Al‐Mazroui, Al‐Yahyai, Al‐Ismaily, Kacimov, & Al‐Busaidi, 2020). A dry topsoil in arid deserts is also well‐known as a good thermal insulator‐protector of deeper roots of desert plants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The accumulated silt cake has a low salinity (ECe = 1.14 dS/m, see Al-Maktoumi et al, 2014) and is used as an ameliorating amendment to the so-called 'constructozems' of smartly designed soil substrates in local farms and home gardens (Al-Mayahi et al, 2020 andAl-Mazroui, Al-Yahyai, Al-Ismaily, Kacimov, &. A dry topsoil in arid deserts is also well-known as a good thermal insulatorprotector of deeper roots of desert plants.…”

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confidence: 99%

Enhancement of infiltration rate of clogged porous beds in the vicinity of dams in arid zones by the roots of indigenous Ziziphus spina‐christ trees

Al‐Maktoumi

Kacimov

Al‐Busaidi

et al. 2020

Hydrological Processes

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Siltation of reservoir beds of recharge dams in arid climates seriously diminishes dams' storage capacity, lessens infiltration and deep percolation rates, increases water loss via evaporation, and ultimately lowers the recharge efficiency to the underlying unconfined aquifer. This study explores possibilities for enhancing the infiltration rate of a silt-clogged recharge-dam bed by cultivation of the Christ's thorn tree (Ziziphus spina-christ), locally known as Sidr, as a hydro-ecoengineering technique. We experimentally quantified the effect of this indigenous tree on the infiltration rates and moisture dynamics in soil tanks and pots. Descriptive statistics and a two-way-repeated-measures analysis at p < .05 were used to compare the effects of the Christ's thorns' roots and plant growth over time on the infiltration rate of silty loam soils (sediments) in the pots and tanks. The Christ's thorn trees significantly increased the steady state infiltration rate of the sediments by 1.9-5.9 times and by 1.7-3.3 times compared to the control (bare soil) in the tank and pot experiments, respectively (p < .05). This study demonstrates the possibility of applying hydroecoengineering techniques for improving the infiltration rate and hence the recharge efficiency of recharge dams in arid areas.

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“…popularize the use of eco-friendly technologies to deal with salt stress for crops grown in saline soils, especially those irrigated with moderately saline water. An example of these techniques is the engineered Smart Capillary Barrier soil designs (SCB) (Al-Ismaily et al 2013;Al-Maktoumi et al 2014;Al-Mayahi et al 2020;Al-Mazroui et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This SCB structure consists of silt blocks sandwiched by a sand-filled maze of horizontal and vertical cracks at all sides and is associated with more abundant natural vegetation cover in comparison with the surrounding areas (Al-Ismaily et al 2013). The SCB design, when reproduced in agricultural soils and pots, was found to improve plants' water use efficiency up to 60% and volumetric soil moisture content between 25 and 50% (Al-Mayahi et al 2020;Al-Mazroui et al 2020). Most irrigation water in arid lands have suboptimum quality and represent the primary source of soluble ions for the salinization of agricultural soils.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of a Nature-Inspired Engineered Soil Structure on Microbial Diversity and Community Composition in the Bulk Soil and Rhizosphere of Tomato Grown Under Saline Irrigation Water

Al-Ismaily

Al‐Mayahi

Al-Siyabi

et al. 2020

J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

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Smart Capillary Barrier (SCB) has been recently promoted to decrease soil salinity and improve water use efficiency and the sustainability of arid land agriculture. In this study, we investigated the effect of SCB on soil microbial diversity, enumeration, and respiration in a tomato field trial. SCB soil and control (unstructured homogenous soils, H) plots were irrigated with four levels of salinity (EC w = 0.8, 3, 6, and 9 dS m −1). Microbial diversity was assessed by ITS and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, enumeration of culturable heterotrophs by agar plates, and microbial respiration by MicroResp™ assays. Salinity was the main driver of the soil microbial diversity, showing a substantial reduction in the number of operational taxonomic units (− 8% for both bacteria and fungi), enumeration of culturable heterotrophs (− 51% for bacteria and − 53% for fungi), and respiration (− 18%) at 9 dS m −1 water salinity. Microbial community composition was significantly different between the SCB and H soils, as evidenced by multivariate analyses and by the appearance of 3352 unique operational taxonomic units at SCB samples that were absent in H plots. The SCB soil showed a steeper metabolic quotient increase in response to soil salinity than the H soils. The abundance of functional microbes such as nitrogen-fixing and nitrifying prokaryotes, as well as mycorrhiza, was also significantly increased in the SCB soils in comparison with the H soils. Our findings suggest that adopting SCB design leads to higher overall soil microbial biodiversity, including those communities unable to withstand extreme soil salinity conditions.

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A smart capillary barrier-wick irrigation system for home gardens in arid zones

Cited by 17 publications

References 52 publications

Numerical Analysis of Soil Water Dynamics during Spinach Cultivation in a Soil Column with an Artificial Capillary Barrier under Different Irrigation Managements

Numerical Analysis of Soil Water Dynamics during Spinach Cultivation in a Soil Column with an Artificial Capillary Barrier under Different Irrigation Managements

Enhancement of infiltration rate of clogged porous beds in the vicinity of dams in arid zones by the roots of indigenous Ziziphus spina‐christ trees

Impact of a Nature-Inspired Engineered Soil Structure on Microbial Diversity and Community Composition in the Bulk Soil and Rhizosphere of Tomato Grown Under Saline Irrigation Water

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