Influence of water stress on tomato production using leaf temperature and soil moisture indicators under seedling cultivation

Tomato is one of the major agricultural products in Fars Province with a cultivation area of 20000 ha. Previous studies show that the tomato farms under traditional surface irrigation systems lose a large volume of water with low water productivity. In the present research¡ the influence of different irrigation regimes on tomato yield and water productivity was studied. The farm under study located in Marvdasht plain with a heavy soil texture. The irrigation water was applied under drip irrigation system¡ base on 60¡ 80¡ 100¡ and 120 percent of Penmann Montieth water requitement method. Another treatment was considered and irrigated by the farmer management. Water stress indicators were measured and evaluated. These indicators were soil moisture and difference between leaf and air temperature. Different statistical test such as t and Duncan test were used for the evaluations. Results show that the obtained yield increased with irrigation water while the water productivity decreased. The irrigation volumes of water used for the treatments were about 3900 to 7800 cubic meters per hectare. However¡ only the differences between the treatments 60 and 120% were statistically significant. Differences between the two treatments 80 and 100%¡ and the critical values were not significant in most cases. The treatments with higher irrigation water than the 80% treatment¡ shows no signifant effects on tomato production. The irrigation water volume in this study and the traditional surface irrigation systems was 5200 and 23000 cubic meter per hectare¡ respectively¡ which shows a decrease more than 75 percent in irrigation water.