The effects of surface and subsurface drip methods on quantitate and qualitative yield of Zahedi date cultivar

Water limitation is one of the most important inhibitors of crop production, so choosing an optimal and superior strategy for using water in conditions of water shortage is essential. Khuzestan province has been ranked third with 13.8 percent of the total date production of the country. Therefore, using pressurized irrigation methods with the goal of optimal utilization of water resources is inevitable. This research was carried out with the aim of investigating the possibility of utilizing subsurface drip irrigation systems in date orchard and determining the most suitable irrigation treatments in terms of yield and water use efficiency in Zahedi cultivar. The treatments consisted of the amount of water consumed by subsurface drip irrigation in three levels based on 75, 100 and 125% water requirement and in surface drip irrigation based on 100% water requirement. Data analysis was performed using a randomized complete block design with three replications. This research was carried out on Zahedi date palm cultivar at Behbahan Agricultural Research Station during three years (2013-2015). In the number of fruits in the cluster, treatments of 75, 100 and 125% of crop water requirement and surface drip irrigation, respectively, with 1438.1, 1336.8, 1492.8 and 1449.8 of fruits in the common cluster were in same place. The surface treatment and 75% of water requirement respectively had the highest yield of 8569.6 and 7802.2 kg / ha, but the difference between mean treatments was not significant. The water use efficiency under 75% of the water requirement treatment was highest with the production of 7444 kg of dates per cubic meter of water. The 75% water requirement treatment had the lowest moisture content and the final rating was 8.7%. The 75% water requirement treatment with 13.7 N / m2 had the highest rigidity and loneliness was in the first place. In the index of total soluble solids, 75, 100 and 125% treatments of subsurface drip irrigation and surface drip treatments were respectively 60.2, 59.5, 59.9 and 60.2 at the same place. Optimizing water use and reducing it to 6116.53 cubic meters per hectare in 75% water treatment will save water consumption. As this treatment decreased 20.4, 19.7 and 39.4% was use, respectively, compared to the surface drip and 100 and 125% water treatments.
This undesirable amount of water consumption has not been significantly attributed to the quantitative traits and some qualitative traits such as pH, soluble solids and sugar content in sub-surface drip treatments. Regarding the insignificant impact of irrigation levels in subsurface drip treatments, it is possible to use other irrigation treatments such as 50 and 60% water requirement in future studies of subsurface drip irrigation.