Pistachio (Pistachia vera L.) seedling growth response to irrigation method and volume in Iran
Introduction
There are more than 45,7000 ha of bearing and nonbearing pistachio orchards in Iran, mainly in Kerman province with 57 % of total pistachio growing areas (Bureau of Statistics and Information Technology, 2017). In recent years, pistachio planting has developed in other arid and semi-arid regions of Iran where the production of fruits and nuts is fully dependent upon irrigation (Naor, 2010). Pistachio orchards are mostly irrigated by surface irrigation method and efficiency has been reported to be 47.7% during one decade (1990–2000) in Kerman Province (Ashrefi et al., 2006). Development of pistachio using surface irrigation has contributed to severe decline of the groundwater table in the pistachio growing areas of Iran. Therefore optimized use of available water resources and modern irrigation in this region is necessary for both new and mature pistachio orchards which have suitable soil and water quality for irrigation.
Others have tested different irrigation systems in fruit orchards. Chopade et al. (2001) in their seven-year research on mature pomegranate trees reported that drip and bubbler irrigation systems increased the yield by 30–40% with lower water application (23–24%) compared with surface irrigation (control). Al-amoud (2008) and Abdel-Naby (2016) reported the suitability of bubbler irrigation system for irrigating orchards. Similarly, Sokalska et al. (2009) reported highest apple yield with less frequent drip irrigation.
In California, drip irrigation management of mature pistachio trees was studied by Phene et al. (1985) showing no significant difference between the quality and quantity of yield in pistachio trees treated by a 25% decrease in water application from 11,500 m3 ha−1 year−1 (as control). However, a significant decline was reported for quality and quantity of yield with a 50–75% decrease in water application. Studies by Arastirma (2004) on application of drip irrigation on mature pistachio trees in Turkey revealed that use of drip irrigation on mature pistachio trees increased yield from 11.8–15.2 kg per tree. In choosing the irrigation system, the physiological properties of each plant are very effective in the resistance of the plant to shortage of water (Ooi et al., 2005). Although the pistachio nut tree has drought tolerance, proper irrigation especially during summer months increases productivity (Iniesta et al., 2008; Kirnak et al., 2001; Mohammadi Mohammadabadi et al., 2008; Sedaghati et al., 2012; Testi et al., 2008). More Iranian researchers have studied irrigation systems on mature pistachio trees as farmers change from surface to pressurized irrigation methods. Kuhestani (1996) studied the adaptability of pistachio trees to different types of subsurface irrigation reducing the amount of applied water to 20% of class A evaporation pan in sandy loam soil. Decreasing water applied caused a 20% decrease in yield compared to surface irrigation and he suggested the application of higher water volumes. Mohammadi Mohammadabadi et al. (2008) reported that changing the irrigation system from surface to subsurface (porous pipe) on mature pistachio trees is possible with applied water amounts of 4783 and 7174 m3 ha-1 year−1. Also, Sedaghati et al. (2012) compared the effects of surface and subsurface drip irrigation systems on growth and yield of mature pistachio trees. They irrigated with 60% of the water requirement for surface irrigation (4398 m3 ha−1 during growth season) and found that drip line buried 30 cm resulted in a 25% water saving over drip line placed on the soil surface.
Sedaghati and Fardad (2001) evaluated micro-irrigation systems available in pistachio orchards of Rafsanjan. They stated water distribution uniformity in drip irrigation is better than the bubbler method. They also found poor irrigation performance was due to improper irrigation scheduling and the lack of pressure regulation.
In recent years, different irrigation systems in pistachio orchards have been used but have not been tested on pistachio seedlings. Thus in this research, five irrigation systems including drip, bubbler, subsurface (Porous pipe), T-Tape and pottery cylinder are compared with conventional or surface method on pistachio from the time of planting.
Section snippets
Materials and methods
This research was conducted in the station of Pistachio Research Center located in northwest of Rafsanjan in Kerman province: 56° 1′ E and 30° 32′ N in 2013−2016. This region is characterized as arid subtropical with less than 100 mm mean annual rainfall and class A evaporation pan averaging almost 2500 mm (Table 1).
The average annual temperature in Rafsanjan is 17.6 °C. The warmest month of the year is July with an average temperature of 29 °C. In January, the average temperature is 6 °C that
Seedling height
The effect of water volume and irrigation upon plant height was significant (Fig. 2).
Height increased with increased water volumes. The pottery cylinder had the highest (95 cm) height and the surface irrigation had the lowest (56 cm) height. The drip irrigation ranked 2nd in height. The lowest height was with 10% water and the T-Tape irrigation (Fig. 2). Ada and Mohamed (2016) reported drip irrigation on young date palm trees gave the highest values of vegetative growth compared to conventional
Conclusions
This study examined the four-year outcome of using six irrigation systems and three irrigation levels from the time of planting of one year old seedlings upon the growth of seedlings, thin root development and soil salinity.
Pistachio seedlings had better growth in the presence of higher amounts of water and the pottery cylinder and drip treatments were better in plant height, trunk diameter, number of leaves and total leaf area. Robles et al. (2016) indicated subsurface drip irrigation changed
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The present work was financially supported by Pistachio Research Center of Iran. We would like to present our cordial thanks for the provision of laboratory facilities as well as human resources for accomplishment of research. We are also grateful to Ehsan Mehrabi Kermani for his explicit proofreading of the manuscript.
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