Abou-Srie Ahmed Hassan Farag
Professor
Effects of irrigation systems and water management strategies on soil chemical properties and citrus tree productivity in clayey soils
Scientific reports • 2025
Publication Information
Authors
Abousrie A. Farag; Mohamed A. Abd El-Aziz; Ahmed. M. El-Husseiny
Keywords
Surface irrigation, Subsurface drip irrigation, Deficit irrigation, Soil salinity, Nutrient uptake,
Crop productivity
Journal
Scientific reports
Publisher
nature
Volume
15
Issue
33324
Pages
Not Available
publication.type
International
Paper Link
Open Link
Supplementary Materials
Not Available
Abstract
The growing demand for irrigated crops, coupled with water scarcity and climate change, has made the adoption of efficient irrigation systems and water-saving strategies essential. However, concerns
remain regarding the long-term effects of localized soil wetting and deficit irrigation (DI) on soil health and crop productivity, particularly in clayey soils. In that concern, a three-season study was
conducted on citrus trees in clayey soils at the Faculty of Agriculture farm, Benha University, Egypt, to evaluate the application effects of surface (FDI) and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) systems, with and
without deficit irrigation, on soil properties and crop yield, compared to traditional flood irrigation (FI). Treatments was conducted as Deficit surface drip irrigation (DFDI), Deficit sub-surface drip irrigation (DSDI), full surface drip irrigation (FFDI) and full sub-surface drip irrigation (FSDI). Under full water
requirements (FWR), FSDI outperformed FFDI and FI in terms of water savings (31.58%), water use efficiency (WUE) (58.87%), nutrient uptake (N-P-K) (2.44, 10.52, and 5.69%, respectively), and yield (8.70%), with the lowest rates of deterioration over time. In contrast flood irrigation, despite its higher water consumption, it maintained lower levels of root-zone salinity, alkalinity, and sodicity. Under deficit irrigation (DI), DSDI achieved the highest water savings (48.68%), followed by DFDI at 45.82%. However, applying DI caused the highest deterioration rates over time under both irrigation systems for all studied parameters.
remain regarding the long-term effects of localized soil wetting and deficit irrigation (DI) on soil health and crop productivity, particularly in clayey soils. In that concern, a three-season study was
conducted on citrus trees in clayey soils at the Faculty of Agriculture farm, Benha University, Egypt, to evaluate the application effects of surface (FDI) and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) systems, with and
without deficit irrigation, on soil properties and crop yield, compared to traditional flood irrigation (FI). Treatments was conducted as Deficit surface drip irrigation (DFDI), Deficit sub-surface drip irrigation (DSDI), full surface drip irrigation (FFDI) and full sub-surface drip irrigation (FSDI). Under full water
requirements (FWR), FSDI outperformed FFDI and FI in terms of water savings (31.58%), water use efficiency (WUE) (58.87%), nutrient uptake (N-P-K) (2.44, 10.52, and 5.69%, respectively), and yield (8.70%), with the lowest rates of deterioration over time. In contrast flood irrigation, despite its higher water consumption, it maintained lower levels of root-zone salinity, alkalinity, and sodicity. Under deficit irrigation (DI), DSDI achieved the highest water savings (48.68%), followed by DFDI at 45.82%. However, applying DI caused the highest deterioration rates over time under both irrigation systems for all studied parameters.