INCREASING IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY BY USING SUBSURFACE IRRIGATION SYSTEM AND HYDROGEL AND ITS EFFECT ON GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY IN MURCOTT MANDARIN TREES UNDER NEW VALLEY CONDITIONS

Fahmy, Fahmy Ebrahim; Farid, Sahar Ali; Shaddad, Amin Mohammed

doi:10.21608/ejdr.2023.242851.1155

INCREASING IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY BY USING SUBSURFACE IRRIGATION SYSTEM AND HYDROGEL AND ITS EFFECT ON GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY IN MURCOTT MANDARIN TREES UNDER NEW VALLEY CONDITIONS

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Plant Production, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt

10.21608/ejdr.2023.242851.1155

Abstract

A two-year study was carried out during two successive seasons of 2019 and 2020 in a private orchard of 7 years old Murcott mandarin trees budded on Volkamer lemon rootstock, grown in sandy soil under a drip irrigation system from a well at El-Farafrah Oasis of the New Valley Governorate, Egypt. The study was a split-plot design. Three levels of subsurface drip irrigation depths (0, 15, and 30 cm depth from surface soil) were assessed in the main plot and three levels of hydrogel (0, 100, and 150 g/tree) were assessed in sub plots, with three replicates for each treatment and each replicate was represented by two trees. The goals of this research were to study the effect of three subsurface drip irrigation depths from surface soil (0, 15, and 30 cm) and three doses of hydrogel and their combinations on vegetative growth, yield and fruit quality of Murcott mandarin under heat stress of El-Farafrah Oasis of the New Valley Governorate, Egypt. The best results were achieved with 15 cm drip irrigation depth combined with 150 g/tree hydrogels. This combination also ensured the best physical and chemical properties of the fruits, improved irrigation efficiency, and minimized the fruit's total acidity percentage.

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