Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Effects of mulching on evapotranspiration, yield and water use efficiency of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. var. flavescens) irrigated with diluted seawater

Author(s):

Qing Tao Zhang ¹, Ould Ahmed Bouya Ahmed ^2*, Mitsuhiro Inoue ², Mohan Chandra Saxena ³, Koji Inosako ⁴, Kensuke Kondo ⁵

Recieved Date: 2009-06-11, Accepted Date: 2009-09-30

Abstract:

Increasing scarcity of fresh water for agriculture in the drylands area is necessitating the use of the marginal quality water, including saline water. However, for sustainable agriculture it is necessary that the use of saline water is combined with suitable crop management practices to reduce salinity effect. This study investigated the effect of gravel mulch (GM) and rice-straw mulch (RM) on the soil salinity, crop evapotranspiration (ET) and fresh and dry weight yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. var. flavescens) grown on Tohaku clay soil and irrigated with diluted seawater (6.86 dS m^-1). The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse using a weighing lysimeter system and irrigation was given from below to allow the water table to remain between 50 cm and 80 cm. The ET was determined every 15 minutes by weighing the lysimeter. Soil temperature was monitored at different depths. At the end of the experiment, the electrical conductivity of the soil was measured in four different layers (0-30 cm). The cumulative ET was higher with ‘no mulch’ control (292 mm) than under RM (254.7 mm) and GM (216.6 mm). Mulching generally increased the soil temperature slightly. RM treatment increased fresh matter yield by 76% and GM by 49% over control. Dry matter yield was also the highest under RM followed by that under GM and control. Salt accumulation in the top 25 cm soil layer was higher under control than under mulching and the differences were particularly conspicuous in the top 10 cm soil layer. This contributed to the yield reduction under control as compared to mulching treatments. RM treatment increased WUE by 143 and 10% as compared to control and GM treatment, respectively. Thus, RM is recommended for reducing salinity effect under shallow water table of saline water and improving WUE.

Keywords:

Gravel mulch, rice-straw mulch, diluted seawater irrigation, shallow water table, evapotranspiration, water use efficiency

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2009
Volume: 7
Issue: 3&4
Category: Environment
Pages: 650-654

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