1Department of Vegetable Science, ASPEE College of Horticulture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari-396 450, Gujarat, India.
2Horticulture Polytechnic, ASPEE College of Horticulture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari-396 450, Gujarat, India.
3Department of Fruit Science, ASPEE College of Horticulture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari-396 450, Gujarat, India.
4Department of Natural Resource Management, College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari-396 450, Gujarat, India.
*Corresponding Author: Dushyant D. Champaneri, Department of Vegetable Science, ASPEE College of Horticulture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari-396 450, Gujarat, India. Email: dushyant6194@gmail.com
To boost water productivity in light of the current water crisis, the deployment of deficit irrigation must be scrutinized for its negative impacts on soil salinity. The primary objective of the present investigation is to determine the link between the amount of total irrigation water used and its impact on various soil parameters. The research also compared full-deficit-irrigation and soil salinity correlation.
The trial was configured in a randomized block design with eight treatments having various irrigation levels alongside three replications for two seasons i.e., winter of 2021–22 and 2022–23 in Navsari, Gujarat, India. Three irrigation methods viz. FDR soil moisture sensor-based irrigation for T1 to T4, Pan evaporation fraction based-irrigation for T5 to T7 and Cropwat 8.0 model-based irrigation for T8 were deployed.
The findings of this study indicated that irrigation volume had considerable effects on soil EC, whereas other soil characteristics had non-significant results. The treatment with the least irrigation volume (T5) had the highest soil EC, whereas, the lowest EC was reported in full irrigation treatment (T1). The outcome of the experiment confirmed the strong negative association between irrigation volume and soil salinity. To boost water productivity while maintaining soil salinity, treatments with deficit irrigation at moderate levels (90% FC, 80% FC and 70% FC) i.e. T2, T3, T4 and T8 were recommended.
Climate change, Correlation matrix, Deficit irrigation, Soil EC, Soil salinity, Water productivity
