干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Alternating Partial Root-Zone Subsurface Drip Irrigation Enhances the Productivity and Water Use Efficiency of Alfalfa by Improving Root Characteristics

Arid

DOI	10.3390/agronomy14040849
	Alternating Partial Root-Zone Subsurface Drip Irrigation Enhances the Productivity and Water Use Efficiency of Alfalfa by Improving Root Characteristics
	Sun, Qunce; Zhang, Shuzhen; Peng, Xianwei; Ge, Xingyu; Wen, Binghan; Jiang, Zhipeng; Wang, Yuxiang; Zhang, Bo
通讯作者	Zhang, SZ
来源期刊	AGRONOMY-BASEL
EISSN	2073-4395
出版年	2024
卷号	14 期号:4
英文摘要	Water scarcity is one of the significant constraints on sustainable agricultural development in arid and semi-arid regions. The challenges faced in forage production are even more severe than those encountered with general crops. The industry still struggles to achieve water-efficient, high-yield quality forage in water-scarce pastoral areas. This study focuses on alfalfa, a high-quality forage crop, employing a combination of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) + alternate partial root-zone irrigation (APRI) and establishing three water supply gradients (full irrigation, 75% deficit, 50% deficit), in comparison with the widely used subsurface drip irrigation, to study the effects of two irrigation methods and three moisture gradients on alfalfa. The aim is to provide some theoretical basis and data support for achieving water-saving and high-yield quality forage in water-scarce pastoral areas. The main findings are as follows: First, compared with SDI, the two-year alternate dry and wet environment provided by alternate partial root-zone drip irrigation (ARDI) significantly increased the specific root length, specific surface area, and root length density of alfalfa at 20 similar to 40 cm depth, increasing by 33.3 similar to 76.8%, 6.4 similar to 32.97%, and 15.2 similar to 93.9%, respectively, compared to SDI. Under ARDI irrigation, the alfalfa root system has a greater contact area with the soil, which lays a solid foundation for the water and nutrient supply needed for the accumulation of its above-ground biomass. Secondly, over the two-year production process, the plant height of alfalfa under ARDI treatment was 12 similar to 14.5% higher than that under SDI, the total fresh forage yield was 43.5 similar to 64% higher, and the total dry forage yield was 23.2 similar to 33.8% higher than SDI. Under ARDI, the 75% water deficit treatment could still maintain the plant height and stem thickness of alfalfa compared to full irrigation with SDI and increased the dry forage yield by 6.6% without significantly reducing the quality, significantly enhancing the productive performance of alfalfa. Moreover, during the two years of production and utilization, the nutritional quality of alfalfa under the ARDI irrigation mode did not significantly decrease compared to SDI, maintaining the stable nutritional quality of alfalfa over multiple years of production. Lastly, thanks to the improved root system and increased yield of alfalfa under ARDI irrigation, and based on this, its water evapotranspiration did not significantly increase compared to SDI; the annual average Alfalfa Water Productivity Index (AWPI) and Alfalfa Water Productivity of Crop (AWPC) under ARDI irrigation increased by 28.8% and 37.2%, respectively, improving the water use efficiency of alfalfa production. In summary, in the production of alfalfa in water-scarce pastoral areas, ARDI and its water deficit treatment have more potential for water-saving than SDI as a water-saving irrigation strategy.
英文关键词	alfalfa alternating partial root-zone irrigation subsurface drip irrigation water use efficiency
类型	Article
语种	英语
开放获取类型	gold
收录类别	SCI-E
WOS记录号	WOS:001211410100001
WOS关键词	FURROW IRRIGATION ; YIELD ; QUALITY ; TRAITS ; IMPACT ; SDI
WOS类目	Agronomy ; Plant Sciences
WOS研究方向	Agriculture ; Plant Sciences
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/402767
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Sun, Qunce,Zhang, Shuzhen,Peng, Xianwei,et al. Alternating Partial Root-Zone Subsurface Drip Irrigation Enhances the Productivity and Water Use Efficiency of Alfalfa by Improving Root Characteristics[J],2024,14(4).
APA	Sun, Qunce.,Zhang, Shuzhen.,Peng, Xianwei.,Ge, Xingyu.,Wen, Binghan.,...&Zhang, Bo.(2024).Alternating Partial Root-Zone Subsurface Drip Irrigation Enhances the Productivity and Water Use Efficiency of Alfalfa by Improving Root Characteristics.AGRONOMY-BASEL,14(4).
MLA	Sun, Qunce,et al."Alternating Partial Root-Zone Subsurface Drip Irrigation Enhances the Productivity and Water Use Efficiency of Alfalfa by Improving Root Characteristics".AGRONOMY-BASEL 14.4(2024).