Climate change will compromise food access by causing water shortages for agricultural purposes. Supplemental irrigation (SI) was explored for its effect on crop water use, fruit yield, water use efficiency, water productivity, mean fruit mass and fruit size distribution of four cactus pear cultivars. The irrigation treatments were: non‐irrigated (NI) rainfed control, SI and full irrigation (FI). The cultivars were: ‘Cristalina’ (Opuntia albicarpa Scheinvar), ‘Amarilla Olorosa’ (O. spp.), ‘Roja Lisa’ (O. ficus‐indica L. Mill.), and ‘Dalia Roja’ (O. spp.). The experiment was conducted in a split‐block design. The SI treatment saved water, in a 3‐year‐average, by 52% for ‘Cristalina’, 51% for ‘Roja Lisa’ and 52% for both ‘Amarilla Olorosa’ and ‘Dalia Roja’. This resulted in a reduction in crop water use by 38% for ‘Cristalina’, 42% for ‘Roja Lisa’, 39% for ‘Amarilla Olorosa’ and 40% for ‘Dalia Roja’. For SI, plant‐relative water content and fruit growth were similar to the FI plants. SI plants maintained fruit yield, mean fruit mass and marketable fruit size at the level of FI plants, while it improved efficiencies of water use and water productivity. SI is therefore a feasible irrigation strategy for cactus pear for those areas where water availability is limited for agricultural activities.

中文翻译：

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在半干旱地区种植仙人掌梨时补充灌溉以节省水*

气候变化将导致农业用水短缺，从而危及粮食的获取。研究了补充灌溉（SI）对四个仙人掌梨品种的作物水分利用，水果产量，水分利用效率，水分生产率，平均果实质量和果实大小分布的影响。灌溉方法为：非灌溉雨水控制，SI和完全灌溉（FI）。栽培品种为：'Cristalina'（Opuntia albicarpa Scheinvar），'Amarilla Olorosa'（O . spp。），'Roja Lisa'（O. ficus-indica L. Mill。）和'Dalia Roja'（O。spp。）。实验以分块设计进行。SI处理节省了3年平均用水量，“克里斯蒂娜丽娜”节水52％，“罗娅丽莎”节水51％，“阿马里拉奥洛罗莎”和“达莉亚罗哈”节水52％。这样，“克里斯蒂娜丽娜”的农作物用水量减少了38％，“罗娅·丽莎”减少了42％，“阿马里拉·奥洛罗莎”减少了39％，“达莉亚·罗哈”减少了40％。对于SI，植物相对水含量和果实生长与FI植物相似。SI植物保持了FI植物水平的果实产量，平均果实质量和可销售的果实大小，同时提高了用水效率和水生产率。因此，对于那些农业活动用水量有限的地区，SI是仙人掌梨可行的灌溉策略。