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- Title
A regulated deficit irrigation strategy for hedgerow olive orchards with high plant density.
- Authors
Fernández, José; Perez-Martin, Alfonso; Torres-Ruiz, José; Cuevas, María; Rodriguez-Dominguez, Celia; Elsayed-Farag, Sheren; Morales-Sillero, Ana; García, José; Hernandez-Santana, Virginia; Diaz-Espejo, Antonio
- Abstract
Background & Aims: There is not a consensus on the best irrigation approach for super-high density (SHD) olive orchards. Our aim was to design and test a regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) strategy for a sustainable balance between water saving, tree vigour and oil production. Methods: We tested our RDI strategy for 3 years in an 'Arbequina' orchard with 1,667 trees ha. Two levels of irrigation reduction were applied, 60RDI and 30RDI, scaled to replacing 60 % and 30 %, respectively, of the of irrigation needs (IN). We also had a full irrigation (FI) treatment as control, with IN totalling 4,701 m ha Results: The 30RDI treatment showed the best balance between water saving, tree vigour and oil production. With a yearly irrigation amount (IA) of 1,366 m ha, which meant 72 % water saving as compared to FI, the reduction in oil yield was 26 % only. Conclusions: Our results, together with recent knowledge on the effect of water stress on fruit development, allowed us to suggest a potentially improved RDI strategy for which a total IA of ca. 2,100 m ha was calculated. Both some management details and the benefits of this suggested RDI strategy are still to be tested.
- Subjects
IRRIGATION management; ORCHARDS; OILSEED plants research; FRUIT development; DEFICIT irrigation; IRRIGATION water
- Publication
Plant & Soil, 2013, Vol 372, Issue 1/2, p279
- ISSN
0032-079X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11104-013-1704-2