Improved water-use efficiency by deficit-irrigation programmes: Implications for saving water in citrus orchards

Water efficiency is a key concept to solve water-shortage problems in semiarid areas. Deficit irrigation (DI) in many crops has frequently proved to be an efficient tool to optimise water-use efficiency. Three different DI strategies were studied for commercial orchards of mature sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck, cv. Salustiana and cv. Navelina) from 2006 to 2008: sustained deficit irrigation (SDI), regulated deficit irrigation (RDI), and low-frequency deficit irrigation (LFDI) all defined physiologically with stem-water potential thresholds. The experimental research plots were located in the Guadalquivir river basin, SW Spain. The effects of DI treatments on the fruit yield and on the crop-water status, by the integrated stem-water potential (Ψint) were analysed. Also, the benefits of DI in terms of agricultural water-use efficiency (WUEagr) and financial water-use efficiency (WUEf) were estimated for each irrigation strategy. Different relationships were estimated between these parameters and irrigation and total water applied, in order to establish the best irrigation strategy for different irrigation regimes. Yield and Ψint showed significant differences consistent with the water amounts applied, although the crop response was influenced by other parameters such as crop variety and irrigation strategy. In this sense, treatments with similar irrigation rates and Ψint resulted in different yield values, evidencing the importance of these factors. Regarding the crop variety, the results showed that cv. Salustiana responded better than cv. Navelina to DI, from the physiological and agricultural perspectives. In terms of water savings, the RDI and LFDI reduced water use by between 1000 and 1250 m3 ha−1, respectively, with similar yields in comparison to the fully irrigated treatment, significantly improving the WUE. Consequently, the WUEf, and WUEagr were more strongly affected by deficit-irrigation strategy rather than the total water supplied. Thus, the amount of irrigation water would have a relative importance but other variables such as the irrigation strategy, would decidedly influence prudent water management in semiarid areas.

Research highlights
► Deficit irrigation increases the water use efficiency in Mediterranean environmental conditions.
► Deficit irrigation is an alternative to water scarcity in semi-arid areas for citrus orchards.
► Irrigation strategy is a key factor for the management of limited water resources.
► Regulated deficit irrigation and low frequency deficit irrigation promotes non-significant reductions on yield, increasing the water use efficiency in financial, agronomic and physiological terms.