Regulated Deficit Irrigation during Vegetative Growth Enhances Crop Water Productivity in Chickpea (<i>Cicer arietinum</i> L.)
José Denis Osuna-Amador,
Rodrigo Méndez-Alonzo,
Armando Trasviña-Castro,
Romeo Saldívar-Lucio,
Rufina Hernandez-Martinez,
Georgianne W. Moore
Affiliations
José Denis Osuna-Amador
Posgrado en Ciencias de la Vida, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana No. 3918, Zona Playitas, Ensenada 22860, Baja California, Mexico
Rodrigo Méndez-Alonzo
Departamento de Biología de la Conservación, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana No. 3918, Zona Playitas, Ensenada 22860, Baja California, Mexico
Armando Trasviña-Castro
Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE Unidad La Paz), Calle Miraflores No. 334 entre Calle Mulegé y Calle La Paz, La Paz 23050, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Romeo Saldívar-Lucio
CONACYT-Centro de Investigación Científica y Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE Unidad La Paz), Calle Miraflores No. 334 entre Calle Mulegé y Calle La Paz, La Paz 23050, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Rufina Hernandez-Martinez
Departamento de Microbiología, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana No. 3918, Zona Playitas, Ensenada 22860, Baja California, Mexico
Georgianne W. Moore
Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, 4324 Old Register Road, Stateboro, GA 30460, USA
To optimize irrigation, agronomists need to modulate crop water productivity (CWP) throughout phenology. We compared regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and sustained deficit irrigation (SDI) in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L. var. Blanoro), expecting RDI during vegetative growth (VG) to enhance CWP, as opposed to flowering (F) and pod-filling (PF) stages. The effects of RDI and SDI on grain yield, plant height, weight, grain caliber, pods and grains per plant, harvest index, and CWP, were tested through a complete randomized block experiment during the years 2020 and 2021, comparing full irrigation (FI, ETc = 100%), SDI (SDI75, ETc = 75% during all stages), and six RDI treatments varying in ETc% across phenology: VG50, VG75, F50, F75, PF50, and PF75. VG75 had higher CWP while minimizing impacts on productivity. During 2020, the plants were taller (0.44 ± 4.4 m), and increased in harvest index (0.47 ± 0.06), and CWP (0.90 ± 0.2 kg m−3) (p p ˃ 0.05), reaching 861.8 (2020) and 944.7 kg ha−1 (2021). Our results highlight the relevance of maintaining 100% ETc during flowering, and the maintenance of RDI at 75% ETc during vegetative growth.
