Bell pepper response to surface and subsurface drip irrigation under different fertigation levels

Abstract

A two-year field experiment was conducted in 2007 and 2008 to investigate different bell pepper responses to subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) and surface drip irrigation (DI) under four nitrogen levels: 0, 75, 150, and 300 kg/ha N (N 0 , N 75 , N 150 , and N 300 , respectively). Irrigation interval was set at 4 days. Bell pepper yield under SDI was significantly higher than that under DI by 4% in 2007 (13% in 2008). Water consumption under SDI was lower than that under DI by 6.7% in 2007 (7.3% in 2008). Meanwhile, root length density under SDI was obviously higher than that under DI by 11.8% in 2007 (12.5% in 2008). The percentage of root length below 10-cm soil depth under SDI was higher than that under DI by 7%, proving that SDI promotes crop root growth and enhances downward root development. Soil N residue under SDI was lesser than that under DI. Lastly, SDI with N application of 150 kg/ha is recommended as an optimal fertigation practice in improving bell pepper yield and water-use efficiency, as well as in NO 3 --N leaching.

Effect of Nitrogen and Irrigation Application on Water Movement and Nitrogen Transport for a Wheat Crop under Drip Irrigation in the North China Plain

“…In our study, the rate of N application did not significantly affect the variation in soil moisture (Figures 2 and 3), which was consistent with the results of Kong et al [41]. On the other hand, the water movement was mainly influenced by the irrigation schedule under drip irrigation, which was similar to results of a previous study under flood irrigation [42].…”

Bitter Gourd Response to Surface and Subsurface Drip Irrigation under Different Fertigation Levels

“…Patel and Rajput () also found that a better soil water regime in the root zone resulted in higher potato yields under the SDI system. Kong et al () found that NO3 − ‐N distribution in the root zone under SDI followed a parabolic curve and maintained higher NO 3 − ‐N concentrations at 20–40 cm soil depth. Increased availability of N at this depth, which is the active root zone of the crop, might be reponsible for higher crop yields under the SDI system.…”

“…Compared to F1 fertigation level, the yields under F4 fertigation level increased from 8.0 to 27.0, 9.6 to 29.5, 11.5 to 33.7 and 10.8 to 30.1 t ha −1 under 0, 5, 10 and 15 cm depths of lateral placement, respectively. Increase in yield with increased levels of fertigation to a threshold level under DI and SDI has been demonstrated for vegetable crops such as bell pepper (Kong et al ., ), tomato (Sharda et al ., ; Silva et al ., ), cucumber (Zhang et al ., ) and broccoli (Thompson et al ., ).…”

“…The numerical modelling of soil water dynamics under DI and SDI showed that as the depth of placement increases, deep percolation increases at a higher pace than evaporation decreases, resulting in low irrigation efficiency (Diamantopoulos and Elmaloglou, ). SDI with 20 cm lateral depth reduced water consumption by 6.7 and 7.3% and increased bell pepper yield over DI significantly by 4 and 13%, for the 2 years of experimentation respectively (Kong et al ., ). Patel and Rajput () reported maximum onion yield and irrigation water productivity (IWP) (0.55 t ha −1 cm −1 ) under 10 cm lateral depth.…”

“…Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) reduces evaporation loss because it restricts upward capillary flow (Philip, ; Phene et al ., ) and applies nutrients directly in the active root zone of the crop (Solomon, ). This leads to further improvement in water and nutrient use efficiency over surface drip irrigation (DI) systems (Ayars et al ., ; Hanson and May, ; Pablo et al, ; Kong et al, ). The most advanced form of SDI in which plant root structure is used as the subsurface water distribution system has also been tried (Qasemi et al, ).…”