Determination of water consumption and the water-saving potential of three mulching methods in a jujube orchard

Knowledge of crop water use and the water-saving capacity of different agricultural measures are essential for efficient crop water management in areas with water shortages. Field experiments were carried out in an adult jujube orchard (Zizyphus jujuba Miller) for two seasons (from 2010 to 2011) at the Nanpi Agro-Eco-Experimental Station in the North China Plain (NCP). Micro-lysimeter and water balance methods were used to measure daily soil evaporation and seasonal crop water consumption during the two seasons. The sap flow method was also employed for the determination of the daily transpiration rate in 2011. Three different mulching practices, plastic film mulching (FM), concrete mulching (CM) and straw mulching (SM), were compared with regards to their impact on soil evaporation. The results showed that the seasonal water consumption (evapotranspiration, ET) of the experimental adult jujube orchard was approximately 600 mm from budding to defoliation, with 43.2% being soil evaporation. Although the seasonal ET calculated using the water balance approach was slightly higher than the ET value determined using the sap flow and micro-lysimeter method, the values obtained using the two methods were comparable. The crop coefficients for the jujube orchard were 0.32 (early in the season), 0.74 (middle of the season) and 0.50 (late in the season). The use of mulch significantly reduced ET in both seasons. Compared to the ET of the control (CK), the ET under CM, FM and SM was reduced by 85.3 mm, 90.1 mm and 31.2 mm, respectively, in 2010 and by 80.3 mm, 87.6 min and 32.3 mm, respectively, in 2011. FM and CM both improved water use efficiency, and no significant differences in yield or quality were observed among the four treatments. Taken together, the results showed that all three types of mulching efficiently reduced crop water use in the experimental jujube orchard. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.