Open AccessMonitoring of water regime in an apple orchard
Author(s) -
Attila Nagy,
Tünde Fórián,
János Tamás,
J. Nyéki,
Zoltán Szabó,
M. Soltész
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of horticultural science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2676-931X
pISSN - 1585-0404
DOI - 10.31421/ijhs/17/1-2./940
Subject(s) - orchard , soil water , environmental science , water content , drainage , precipitation , irrigation , hydrology (agriculture) , soil science , soil horizon , moisture , field capacity , agronomy , geology , geotechnical engineering , geography , meteorology , ecology , biology
Our investigation was carried out at an micro-irrigated intensive apple orchard in Debrecen-Pallag in 2010. The aims of the study were to monitor the effect of a compacted layer on soil water regime by tensiometers and supporting the water management of the orchard. The results suggest that the physical characteristic of the examined soil is sandy soil with low capillarity and total available water content. The soil water tensions were varied between pF 0 and 2.5 due to the extreme precipitation circumstances in 2010. Tensiometers in 40 cm depth resulted fast (few hours) and significant respond to precipitation than in the 70 cm soil layer. Based on daily measurements, the soils possess a daily fluctuation of soil moisture, however the changes become more moderate in deeper layers. In accordance with all of the results, the amount of drainable water regime was about 20.6 V/V% at 40 cm depth and 18.6 V/V% at 70 cm mainly. The harmful surplus water can be infiltrated by loosening of the compacted soil layer in 50–70 cm depth or led off by vertical drainage.