A substantial area of the new almond plantations in Spain is under irrigation but because of water scarcity, deficit irrigation (DI) strategies have to be adopted. This study assesses the long-term sustainability of different DI strategies over 6 years (2014–2019) on a mature almond [Prunus dulcis (Mill) D.A. Web] orchard in southern Spain. Four irrigation treatments were imposed: full irrigation (FI); two moderate DI, (SDI_M) and (RDI_M), where applied irrigation was 65% of FI but differed in the seasonal water distribution; and a severe DI, where applied irrigation was 35% of FI. The results emphasise the key role of soil water storage and the importance to consider crop evapotranspiration (ET_C) as the principal driving variable of productivity instead of irrigation in many situations. Soil water partially buffered the irrigation reductions imposed, leading to no significant differences in yield performance between the two different moderate DI treatments. The water production functions (yield versus applied irrigation and yield versus ET_C) did not show statistical differences when comparing the first (2014–2016) against that of the second triennia (2017–2019), suggesting the non-existence of exhaustion or adaptation phenomena that could jeopardize the longer term sustainability of DI strategies. Average annual ET_C ranged from 580 mm in the RDI_S treatment to a maximum value of 1300 mm, yielding between 1370 and 2750 kg ha⁻¹ of nuts, and showed that water deficits caused yield losses ranging from 0.05 to 0.35 kg m⁻³ of irrigation water depending on the irrigation level.

西班牙大部分新的杏仁种植园都处于灌溉状态，但由于缺水，必须采用亏水灌溉（DI）策略。这项研究评估了西班牙南部一个成熟的杏仁[ Prunus dulcis（Mill）DA Web]果园在6年（2014-2019年）中不同DI策略的长期可持续性。实行了四种灌溉处理：全灌（FI）；两种中等的DI（SDI _M）和（RDI _M），其中应用灌溉占FI的65％，但季节性水分布有所不同；和严重的去离子水，其中应用灌溉占FI的35％。结果强调了土壤蓄水的关键作用以及考虑作物蒸散（ET _C）作为生产力的主要驱动变量，在许多情况下代替灌溉。土壤水部分缓解了灌溉量的减少，导致两种不同的中等去离子处理之间的产量表现没有显着差异。将第一个（2014-2016年）与第二个三年期（2017-2019年）的水生产函数（产量与应用灌溉的产量和ETC与ET _C的比较）没有显示统计学差异，这表明不存在枯竭或适应的情况可能危害DI策略长期可持续性的现象。年均ET _C范围从RDI _S处理的580 mm到最大值1300 mm，在1370和2750 kg ha ^-1之间结果表明，水分亏缺导致灌溉水量从0.05到0.35 kg m ^-3不等，具体取决于灌溉水平。