Abstract

VILLAGRAN DEOSES, René Alejandro et al. Partial Root Zone Drying in Golden Delicious Apple. Terra Latinoam [online]. 2015, vol.33, n.4, pp.299-308. ISSN 2395-8030.

Over exploitation of aquifers is a big problem in many arid and semi-arid zones of the world. In recent years, new strategies have been developed to optimize water use. One ofthese is partial root zone drying (PRD). The aim of this research was to determine the effect of PRD on apple yield and fruit quality and how much water can be save with this strategy. This work was done in Bachiniva, Chihuahua, Mexico, during 2008 and 2009. Three treatments were evaluated: control (only the rain), fully irrigated (FI) and partial root zone drying (PRD). In the case of PRD, the irrigation pipeline was alternated from one side of the tree row to the other during the growing season, applying only 50% of the water used for FI. Results showed that yield, fruit quality (polar and equatorial diameter, firmness and solid soluble solids), shoot growth and leaf area of PRD were not statistically different from those of FI. With PRD, it is possible to save 50% of the water applied through the irrigation system and reduce 21.3% of the total water used in the apple orchard.

Keywords : partial irrigation; water use efficiency; yield; fruit quality.