Urbanization and industrial competition continue to reduce both farmland and available water for food production. Therefore, a new root zone soil water retention technology was modified to transform highly permeable soils into sustainable agriculture. This long-term drought avoidance technology was tested in two arid regions of Iraq, an arid country with declining irrigation water supplies. Manually installed U-shaped impermeable membrane troughs were compared with manually installed thin layers of partially decomposed organic matter. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) variety Dafnis (Syngenta Sweden) and spicy pepper (Capsicum solanaceae L.) crops were spring planted at Najaf and Diyala field sites during a 2-yr study. Soil water, temperature, and salinity were measured hourly, and compared to crop growth parameters, yields, and irrigation water use efficiency. Combined weights of four tomato and spicy pepper harvests were (P = .05) 15 and 25% greater on sand soils equipped with root zone soil water retaining technology (SWRT) membranes and required 61% less irrigation water than crops grown on locally practiced organic matter-lined and no water retaining control soils. Spicy pepper production on SWRT membranes (P = .05) increased 30% with concomitant (P = .05) 125% greater irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) than organic matter-layered and control soils at Diyala.

中文翻译：

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新的根区土壤保水能力提高了干旱沙土中一半水的产量

城市化和工业竞争继续减少耕地和粮食生产可用水。因此，改进了一种新的根区土壤保水技术，将高渗透性土壤转化为可持续农业。这种长期避免干旱的技术在伊拉克的两个干旱地区进行了测试，伊拉克是一个灌溉水供应下降的干旱国家。将手动安装的 U 形防渗膜槽与手动安装的部分分解有机物薄层进行了比较。番茄 ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) 品种 Dafnis (Syngenta Sweden) 和辣椒 ( Capsicum solanaceae)L.) 在一项为期 2 年的研究中，春季在 Najaf 和 Diyala 田间种植作物。每小时测量一次土壤水、温度和盐度，并与作物生长参数、产量和灌溉用水效率进行比较。 在配备根区土壤保水技术 (SWRT) 膜的沙土上，四种番茄和辣椒收获的总重量分别高出 ( P = .05) 15% 和 25%，与当地有机栽培作物相比，灌溉用水量减少了 61%。物质衬里和无保水控制土壤。SWRT 膜上的辣椒产量 ( P  = .05) 增加了 30%，同时 灌溉用水效率 (IWUE) 比迪亚拉的有机物质分层和对照土壤高 125% ( P = .05)。