| Popis: |
Severe climatic events combining water scarcity and droughts are predicted to increase in intensity, frequency, and geographic extent as a result climate change. To grow crops successfully in this adverse scenario, farmers will need to adjust to less available water. The application of efficient water-management strategies such as deficit irrigation is a key element to increase agricultural water productivity in areas affected by water scarcity. This is the case for subtropical Mediterranean farming, particularly terraced mango ( Mangifera indica L.) orchards in southeast Spain. In this chapter we have described that the conventionally applied irrigation (100% ET C ) could be reduced in order to maximize productivity and promote water-saving programs. That is, the highest yield and water-use efficiency were attained by reducing the ET C to 50%, and thus the greatest volumes of water did not increase fruit yield. However, the fully irrigated trees produced the greatest fruit length, width, and weight. In addition, the largest size of the tree was recorded with this treatment, so that the extra irrigation water under 100% ET C was invested in vegetative growth rather than in fruit yield. Consequently, the deficit irrigation at 50% of ET C should be adopted as the most appropriate strategy for achieving sustainable water management under a water-scarcity scenario in subtropical Mediterranean environment. |
