The sustainability of agricultural production depends on conservation and appropriate use and management of scarce water resources especially in arid and semi-arid areas where irrigation is required for the production...The sustainability of agricultural production depends on conservation and appropriate use and management of scarce water resources especially in arid and semi-arid areas where irrigation is required for the production of food and cash crops. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effects of surface and subsurface drip irrigation （SDI） at 5, 20 and 35 cm depths on water＇s dynamic in soil （Soil moisture distribution, water＇s stock in soil and irrigation water use efficiency） to produce maize in semiarid climates. Field study was conducted at the Higher Institute of Agronomy of Chott Meriem, Tunisia. The results indicated that soil moisture content under subsurface drip irrigation at 35 cm （T3） depth was more uniform compared to 5 cm （T1） and 20 cm （T2）. Moreover, irrigation water use efficiency was higher in this treatment. Indeed, it increased about 18%, 14% and 7% for T3, T2 and T1, respectively when compared with surface drip irrigation. The results of the present study showed that SDI allows uniform soil moisture, minimize the evaporative loss and delivery water directly to the plant root zone and consequently increases use efficiency. Further research is needed in order to determine whether corn production with SDI is feasible in the arid region.展开更多
文摘The sustainability of agricultural production depends on conservation and appropriate use and management of scarce water resources especially in arid and semi-arid areas where irrigation is required for the production of food and cash crops. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the effects of surface and subsurface drip irrigation （SDI） at 5, 20 and 35 cm depths on water＇s dynamic in soil （Soil moisture distribution, water＇s stock in soil and irrigation water use efficiency） to produce maize in semiarid climates. Field study was conducted at the Higher Institute of Agronomy of Chott Meriem, Tunisia. The results indicated that soil moisture content under subsurface drip irrigation at 35 cm （T3） depth was more uniform compared to 5 cm （T1） and 20 cm （T2）. Moreover, irrigation water use efficiency was higher in this treatment. Indeed, it increased about 18%, 14% and 7% for T3, T2 and T1, respectively when compared with surface drip irrigation. The results of the present study showed that SDI allows uniform soil moisture, minimize the evaporative loss and delivery water directly to the plant root zone and consequently increases use efficiency. Further research is needed in order to determine whether corn production with SDI is feasible in the arid region.
