Effects of different irrigation patterns on soil water dynamics,water use and yields in an Apple Orchard

This paper studied the effects of different irrigation treatments(pipe irrigation,drip irrigation and micro-sprinkle irrigation) on soil water content,water consumption in growth period,yield and water use efficiency of apple trees in upstream area of the Miyun Reservoir.In the field contrastive experiment,12 field plots with each area of 60 m2(3 m×20 m) were established and treated with 3 irrigation methods and one control.The aid-to-irrigation was implemented in the jointing stage,blooming stage,tree growth stage,autumn stage and over wintering stage,the optimal irrigation amount was determined based on the efficiency of different irrigation methods.The experiment results showed that:(1) the dynamic changes of soil water were subjected to the variation of the quantity of precipitation,irrigation and water consumption during apple tree growth period.In general,water content in soil of different irrigation treatments showed a different tendency.Micro-sprinkle irrigation and drip irrigation significantly increased the water content in the 0～60 cm soil layer,the effects of these irrigation methods on the 80～120 cm soil layer was not significant.The pipe irrigation increased the water content in the soil layer below 120 cm;(2) in all growth period,compared with pipe-irrigation,the micro-sprinkle irrigation and drip irrigation saved water by 31.99% and 49.83%,respectively,decreased the water consumption amount by 12.49% and 11.52%,respectively;(3) the yield of irrigation treatment was higher than that of control;WUE and water irrigation efficiency(WIE) of micro-sprinkle irrigation were the highest among the 3 methods of irrigation,the yield of the micro-sprinkle irrigation amounted to 51 t/hm2.In conclusion,developing the micro-sprinkle irrigation was a better method for apple trees in upriver areas of the Miyun Reservoir.