Improving Some Irrigation Efficiencies, Soil Fertility, Yield and Quality of Wheat under Deficit Irrigation by Integrated N-Fertilization

Abstract

One of the most agricultural strategies is improving irrigation and fertilization. Two field experiment were conducted for study the effect of deficit irrigation strategy and integrated N-fertilization on the water application efficiencies, soil organic matter content, soil electrical conductivity, yield and quality of wheat were investigated under arid and sandy soils in Egypt and field experiments were conducted during 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 at the Research Farm of National Research Center (NRC). Water application efficiency and the average of soil organic matter content were increased by increasing the amount of organic fertilizers applied and decreased by increasing the volume of applied water but the average of electrical conductivity of soil were decreased by increasing the amount of organic fertilizers applied and increasing the volume of applied water. The values of the grain yield “GYwheat” and protein content “PCwheat“and carbohydrates content “CCwheat” were increased by increasing the amount of organic N-fertilizers applied up to 50% and they decreased with the continued increase in organic N-fertilizers addition. Although most of the characteristics, especially crop yield, decrease with the decrease in the amount of added irrigation water, in this study there were no significant differences when irrigation with 100% or 80% of full irrigation( FI), so a decrease of 80% of FI may not have resulted in any effect on the moisture stress, on the contrary, most of the studied characteristics were slightly higher when irrigation by 80% FI than full irrigation. In spite of the highest values of the water productivity of the wheat crop, it was at irrigation with 60% of the total irrigation, but there were high significant differences in the values of the higher productivity when irrigation with 80% of FI with adding 50% organic N-fertilizers with 50% mineral N-fertilizers. Finally, the results of the study concluded that, the necessity of relying on organic nitrogen fertilization in addition to mineral nitrogen fertilization at 50% organic to 50% mineral in addition to the possibility of irrigation at 80% of full irrigation, i.e. saving 20% of irrigation water without any significant impact on the productivity and quality characteristics of wheat under arid and sandy soils conditions in Egypt.