Effects of Irrigation Interval and Amount of Water on Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera (Aloe Vera L.) is a medicinal plant adaptable to arid and warm climates as well as water limited conditions and can be introduced in cropping pattern of southern region of Iran. A field experiment was carried out during two years (2010-2011) in Bushehr, Iran, to investigate the effects of irrigation interval and amount of irrigation water on yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of Aloe Vera. The treatments were arranged in a split plot design based on randomized complete blocks with three replications. Three irrigation intervals including 2, 4 and 6 days were allocated to the main plots. Also, 4 irrigation amounts, calculated based on four coefficients of class A pan i.e. 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 were allocated to the subplots. The results showed that increasing irrigation interval from 2 to 6 days had no significant effects on yield and WUE of Aloe Vera. The least yield, number of leaves per plant, height of bosk was related to the coefficient of 0.2, and there were no significant difference between coefficients 0.6 and 0.8. Also, by decreasing irrigation amounts, WUE increased significantly. The least WUE related to coefficient 0.8, while the maximum belonged to coefficient 0.2. Generally, to achieve the maximum yield (5.7 kg/plant) and WUE (15.5 g/lit), respectively, the coefficients 0.6 (equivalent to 656 mm water for the whole growing season) and 0.2 (equivalent to 219 mm water/season), and for the ease of management, irrigation interval of 6 days are recommended.