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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Crop Biology and Sustainability
Volume 8 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2024.1485377

Effects of Subsurface Drip Fertigation on Potato Growth, Yield, and Soil Moisture Dynamics

Provisionally accepted
Guoqiang Zhao Guoqiang Zhao *Xianxin Luo Xianxin Luo Zhan Wang Zhan Wang Gang Sheng Gang Sheng Wei Liu Wei Liu Yueming Wang Yueming Wang
  • Shaanxi Provincial Land Engineering Construction Group Co., Ltd., Xi’an, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Aims] This study aimed to evaluate the impact of subsurface drip fertigation (SDF) on soil moisture content, potato growth, and tuber yield in loam soils, and compare these results with conventional surface drip fertigation (CF). The focus was on determining whether SDF could improve water use efficiency and yield quality, particularly in water-scarce regions.[Methods] The experiment was conducted during the 2022 spring growing season in Xunyang, Ankang, Shaanxi Province, China. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used with three treatments: subsurface drip fertigation (SDF), conventional surface drip fertigation (CF), and a no-fertilization control (NF), with four replications per treatment. Soil moisture content at a 20 cm depth was monitored, and plant growth parameters such as plant height, stem diameter, leaf color index, and chlorophyll fluorescence index were measured during the flowering and harvest stages.Tuber yield characteristics, including tuber diameter, number of tubers per plant, total yield, and marketable yield, were also assessed.[Important findings] The results indicated that subsurface drip fertigation significantly improved soil moisture content, with up to 45.5% higher moisture retention compared to conventional fertigation, particularly in the early stages of fertilization. This improved moisture availability led to enhanced plant growth and tuber development. Tuber diameter increased by 6.9 mm, and the number of tubers per plant increased by 18.1% under SDF. Marketable tuber yield was approximately 10% higher in the SDF treatment compared to CF. However, the study found that soil texture plays a critical role in the effectiveness of SDF, and further research is needed to explore its application in other soil types.

    Keywords: Subsurface drip irrigation, Potato cultivation, Soil moisture content, Tuber yield, Loam soil, fertigation, Agricultural water management

    Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 30 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhao, Luo, Wang, Sheng, Liu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Guoqiang Zhao, Shaanxi Provincial Land Engineering Construction Group Co., Ltd., Xi’an, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.