Abstract

MONTEMAYOR TREJO, José Alfredo et al. Water use in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) with subsurface drip irrigation. Rev. mex. de cienc. pecuarias [online]. 2010, vol.1, n.2, pp.145-156. ISSN 2448-6698.

The present study was carried out at the Comarca Lagunera, located astride the States of Coahuila and Durango, Mexico, in 2004 in order to analyze water use efficiency in two irrigation systems, subsurface drip and border, in alfalfa. A completely randomized block design with four replications and three treatments for distance between irrigation tapes at 0.8, 0.9 and 1.0 m was established. Border irrigation was used as control. A simple regression method between the variables days after planting and water flow was used for evaluating the amount of water applied in both systems. WL 712 alfalfa variety was planted at 40 kg ha^-1 seeding density; water flow rate in tapes was 3 L h^-1 m^-1 with emitters spaced at 0.3 m and 10,000 µ thick. Irrigation depth was 1.39 m in border and 1.16 m in subsurface drip irrigation. Daily average water consumption showed significant difference between irrigation systems, Tukey _(α=0.05) exhibiting values of 18.46 t ha^-1, 1.33 kg m^-3 in border and 24.08 t ha^-1, 2.04 kg m^-3 in subsurface drip.

Keywords : Alfalfa; Evapotranspiration; Water use efficiency; Subsurface drip irrigation.