Effect of pulse drip irrigation on soil moisture distribution and maize production in clay soil [electronic resource].

Includes references.

Pulse drip irrigation is a recent concept where small frequent irrigation applications are applied to saturate the soil and meet the plant water requirements. The field experiments were carried out in clayey soil at the farm of Rice Mechanization Center (RMC), Meet El-Deepa, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate during the successive season of 2004-2005. The experimental field was divided into three large plots. The plot was divided into 2 strips. Each strip was considered for one specified treatment. Each treatment contained eight dripper lines. The dripper lines spacing and length were designed to be 1.0 m and 50 m of both side of the manifold, respectively. The experiment was randomized complete block design (RCBD) for one variable each irrigation alone. The purposes of this study were to determine and evaluate the effects of the traditional and the pulse drip irrigation (5 min on/ 5 min off) on the process of soil water depletion, replenishment, distribution pattern, application efficiency, emission uniformity, distribution efficiency, crop yield characteristics and water use efficiency. The crop measurements were plant height (cm), number of ears/plant, roots distribution area, kernel weight and weight of 100 kernels as an average of two samples taken at random from each plot. The results demonstrated that the maximum crop water requirement was 6.96 mm/day during the mid season (through August). The seasonal irrigation water applied was found to be 1931.35 and 1892.48 m3/fed or 459.9 and 450.6 mm/ season for continuous and pulse drip irrigation, respectively. Pulse flow resulted in higher values of soil moisture trend for either (0-15 cm) or (15-30cm) soil depths. Moisture content showed that there was no significant difference between the two soil depths for pulse flow irrigation technique, while as the L.S.D. test was highly significant for continuous drip between both soil depths. The higher value for each of Ea, EU and Ed through over the growth planting season was recorded for pulse drip irrigation technique. This indicated higher water uniformity distribution along the lateral of dripper line. Pulse drip irrigation increased grain yield by 11.8% compared with continuous drip irrigation. While the total applied water was saved by 2.01% for pulse drip irrigation than that continuous drip. Water use efficiency under pulse drip irrigation was 2.34 kg/m3 compared with 2.06 kg/m3 for continuous drip irrigation recording an increase of 13.55%.

Summary in Arabic.

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