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Over the years, cultivation using sustainable tillage practices has gained significant importance, but the impact of tillage on soil water infiltration is still a concern for landowners due to the possible effects on crop yield. This study investigates the impact of different tillage managements on the infiltration rate of sandy clay loam soil under a semiarid environment. Field experiments were conducted in Chott Mariem Sousse, Tunisia. The tillage practices consisted of three treatments, including a tine cultivator (TC, 16 cm), moldboard plows (MP, 36 cm) and no-tillage (NT). Three infiltration models, Kostiakov, Philip and Horton, were applied to adjust the observed data and evaluate the infiltration characteristics of the studied soils. Comparison criteria, including the coefficient of determination (R2), along with the root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE), were used to investigate the best-fit model. The results showed that moldboard plowing enhanced soil infiltration capacity relative to tine cultivation and no-tillage treatments. The mean saturated hydraulic conductivity was highest under MP, while it was lowest in NT, with 33.4% and 34.1% reduction compared to TC and MP, respectively. Based on the obtained results, Philip’s model showed better results with observed infiltration due to a higher R2 (0.981, 0.973 and 0.967), lower RMSE (3.36, 9.04 and 9.21) and lower MAE (1.46, 3.53 and 3.72) recorded, respectively, for NT, MP and TC. Horton’s model had a low regression coefficient between observed and predicted values. It was suggested that the Philip two-term model can adequately describe the infiltration process in the study area.
Roua Amami; Khaled Ibrahimi; Farooq Sher; Paul Milham; Hiba Ghazouani; Sayed Chehaibi; Zahra Hussain; Hafiz Iqbal. Impacts of Different Tillage Practices on Soil Water Infiltration for Sustainable Agriculture. Sustainability 2021, 13, 3155 .
AMA StyleRoua Amami, Khaled Ibrahimi, Farooq Sher, Paul Milham, Hiba Ghazouani, Sayed Chehaibi, Zahra Hussain, Hafiz Iqbal. Impacts of Different Tillage Practices on Soil Water Infiltration for Sustainable Agriculture. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (6):3155.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoua Amami; Khaled Ibrahimi; Farooq Sher; Paul Milham; Hiba Ghazouani; Sayed Chehaibi; Zahra Hussain; Hafiz Iqbal. 2021. "Impacts of Different Tillage Practices on Soil Water Infiltration for Sustainable Agriculture." Sustainability 13, no. 6: 3155.
Water supplies have been decreasing in several semi-arid regions, and it is therefore necessary to adopt irrigation strategies aimed at maximizing water use efficiency. In this paper, the effects of saline and deficit irrigation on water use efficiency and on potato crop response, based on observations of soil and plant water status, were investigated. Experiments were carried out in Central Tunisia, by monitoring potato crop growth during two seasons in four distinct treatments (T1–T4), represented by two different irrigation doses and two water qualities. For irrigation scheduling purposes, thresholds of soil matric potential, soil water content and Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) were identified with the aim to quantify the effects of water and/or salinity stress on the achievable yield. Experiments allowed verifying that crop yield is strongly affected by the seasonal amount and quality of applied water. Despite differences of crop yield between treatments T2, T3 and T4 not being statistically significant (P < 0.05), crop yield varied between 26.3 t/ha (T3 in 2015) to 16.3 t/ha (T4 in 2015). However, crop yield decline of 17.0 t/ha and 12.0 t/ha per each 100 mm decrease of applied water were observed under the application of water electrical conductivity of 1.6 dS/m and 4.1 dS/m respectively. On the other hand, an increase of 1.0 dS/m in water electrical conductivity caused a yield decline rate of about 10%. The results achieved showed that under the semi-arid climate of Tunisia, potato crop irrigation should be scheduled to avoid water deficit; however, the possibility to reduce water supply can be envisaged when water availability is limited, but with the awareness to accept the shortage of production. Finally, when saline water is the only source available to the farm, it is necessary to avoid the reduction of irrigation doses, to prevent excessive salt accumulation in the root zone with unavoidable effects on crop yield.
Hiba Ghazouani; Giovanni Rallo; Amel Mguidiche; Basma Latrech; Boutheina Douh; Abdelhamid Boujelben; Giuseppe Provenzano. Effects of Saline and Deficit Irrigation on Soil-Plant Water Status and Potato Crop Yield under the Semiarid Climate of Tunisia. Sustainability 2019, 11, 2706 .
AMA StyleHiba Ghazouani, Giovanni Rallo, Amel Mguidiche, Basma Latrech, Boutheina Douh, Abdelhamid Boujelben, Giuseppe Provenzano. Effects of Saline and Deficit Irrigation on Soil-Plant Water Status and Potato Crop Yield under the Semiarid Climate of Tunisia. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (9):2706.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHiba Ghazouani; Giovanni Rallo; Amel Mguidiche; Basma Latrech; Boutheina Douh; Abdelhamid Boujelben; Giuseppe Provenzano. 2019. "Effects of Saline and Deficit Irrigation on Soil-Plant Water Status and Potato Crop Yield under the Semiarid Climate of Tunisia." Sustainability 11, no. 9: 2706.
The objective of this paper was to assess the performance of Hydrus-2D model to simulate the effects of different on-farm irrigation strategies applied on potato crop. The ability of the model to simulate the stress coefficient (Ks), obtained as the ratio between actual and maximum transpiration, and to define the productive function of potato crop under the semi-arid conditions of central Tunisia were also evaluated. Experiments were carried out on potato crop under full (FI) and deficit irrigation (DI) and two different water qualities supplied by means of a subsurface drip irrigation system. Results evidenced that the model, despite some discrepancies locally observed, can fairly accurately predict soil water contents and electrical conductivity around buried emitters. Furthermore, under water and salt stress conditions, “measured” Ks, based on crop water stress index (CWSI) obtained on thermal images, resulted in a good correlation with the corresponding estimated by the model (R2 = 0.8). The database collected during the three growth seasons also allowed the definition of the crop productive function represented by a linear relationship between the relative yield loss and Ks. This function represents a useful guidelines for the sustainable use of irrigation water in countries characterized by a semi-arid climate and a limited availability of water for irrigation.
Hiba Ghazouani; Giovanni Rallo; Amel Mguidiche; Basma Latrech; Boutheina Douh; Abdelhamid Boujelben; Giuseppe Provenzano. Assessing Hydrus-2D Model to Investigate the Effects of Different On-Farm Irrigation Strategies on Potato Crop under Subsurface Drip Irrigation. Water 2019, 11, 540 .
AMA StyleHiba Ghazouani, Giovanni Rallo, Amel Mguidiche, Basma Latrech, Boutheina Douh, Abdelhamid Boujelben, Giuseppe Provenzano. Assessing Hydrus-2D Model to Investigate the Effects of Different On-Farm Irrigation Strategies on Potato Crop under Subsurface Drip Irrigation. Water. 2019; 11 (3):540.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHiba Ghazouani; Giovanni Rallo; Amel Mguidiche; Basma Latrech; Boutheina Douh; Abdelhamid Boujelben; Giuseppe Provenzano. 2019. "Assessing Hydrus-2D Model to Investigate the Effects of Different On-Farm Irrigation Strategies on Potato Crop under Subsurface Drip Irrigation." Water 11, no. 3: 540.