Effects of irrigation methods on soil moisture and fruit production of the pear orchard

Furrow irrigation,ridge irrigation,drip irrigation,micro-sprinkler irrigation and non-irrigation(CK) were performed to investigate the influences of different irrigation methods on soil moisture,photosynthesis,yield and fruit quality in pear orchard,to selecte the appropriate water-saving irrigation technology.The results showed that:(1) Micro-sprinkler irrigation led the highest soil moisture content in 0~60 cm soil layers,followed by drip irrigation,ridge irrigation,furrow irrigation and CK,micro-sprinkler irrigation's water storage capacity was significantly higher than other irrigation methods;(2) The order of net photosynthetic rate performance was micro-sprinkler irrigation≥drip irrigation≥ridge irrigationfurrow irrigationCK,which showed that micro-sprinkler irrigation treatment of pear leaf photosynthetic capacity was the strongest,followed by drip irrigation;(3) The yield of micro-irrigation was the best,followed by drip irrigation,compared with controls,yield per plant rised by 54.98% and 44.18%;(4) Besides,micro-sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation could also raise the fruit quality,such as bigger fruit size,higher content of soluble solids and total soluble sugars,lower fruit firmness,lower content of acid and stone cell.It is concluded that,micro-sprinkler irrigation can improve the soil moisture condition and increase the ability of photosynthesis and result in higher yield and fruit quality more significantly than others,which is an ideal water-saving irrigation technology.