Advancements in Enhancing Water Use Efficiency for Horticultural Crops

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Biotic and Abiotic Stress".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 14 February 2025 | Viewed by 1653

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water resources are limited in the world, and climate change is a new challenge that exacerbates the water shortage crisis. The priority of water use is for human consumption, and less water will be available for agricultural activities. Therefore, a significant amount of cultivable land area in the world is not usable due to a lack of water for irrigation. Enhancing water use efficiency can ensure food security for the ever-increasing world population.

This Horticulturae Special Issue, ‘Advancements in Enhancing Water Use Efficiency for Horticultural Crops’, presents new studies, tools, approaches, and techniques for enhancing water use efficiency for horticulture crops, including fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

The topics covered by this Special Issue include new irrigation system methods, precision irrigation, remote sensing and emerging new technologies and devices, new systems of rainwater harvesting, water productivity, physiology of horticultural plants under drought stress, drought tolerant cultivars and rootstocks, the regulated deficit irrigation methods, and biological agents.

Dr. Alireza Rahemi
Prof. Dr. Qiang-Sheng Wu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • water use efficiency
  • water productivity
  • water management
  • water harvesting
  • irrigation systems
  • drought tolerance
  • controlled environment systems
  • horticultural crops

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 4347 KiB  
Article
Water Use Efficiency in a Deficit-Irrigated Orange Orchard
by Fiorella Stagno, Massimo Brambilla, Giancarlo Roccuzzo and Alberto Assirelli
Horticulturae 2024, 10(5), 498; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10050498 - 11 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1241
Abstract
Citrus is a subtropical fruit tree with high water requirements. This study aimed to determine the effects of water deficit on an orange orchard subjected to different water-saving strategies. The study was realised in an orange orchard in a semiarid area by adopting [...] Read more.
Citrus is a subtropical fruit tree with high water requirements. This study aimed to determine the effects of water deficit on an orange orchard subjected to different water-saving strategies. The study was realised in an orange orchard in a semiarid area by adopting four different water management techniques: 100% crop evapotranspiration (control); SSDI—subsurface sustained deficit irrigation; RDI—regulated deficit irrigation; PRD—partial rootzone drying treatment during five growing seasons. The experimental design foresaw a randomised block design with six replicates per treatment (24 index plants). The results of the study showed that the water-saving strategies reduced irrigation water consumption by 25% (SSDI), 33% (RDI), and 49% (PRD) compared to the fully irrigated treatment without yield reduction, thus increasing water use efficiency. Mineral nutrition of the trees was slightly affected by irrigation treatments; element concentration in leaves was generally in the optimal range; only potassium showed values below the recommended leaf concentrations. Regarding fruit quality parameters, the vitamin C concentration in RDI showed significant differences with a value of 62.7 mg 100 mL−1 compared to 58.5 mg 100 mL−1 in the control. Plants subjected to SSDI and PRD strategies showed increased levels of pulp colour index with significant values of 10 and 9.90, respectively, compared to the control (8.44). By implementing targeted water management, citrus growers could save water and increase the ascorbic acid and sugar concentration in the fruits; anthocyanins also increased but not significantly. These findings open new market opportunities for citrus growers in marginal areas, where they cannot rely solely on producing citrus fruits to remain competitive. Full article
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