Effect of Irrigation Strategies and Soil Mulching on the Yield of Capsicum chinense in a Semiarid Region

Le résumé fourni par la source

Deficit irrigation strategies are essential for agricultural production in water‐scarce regions. However, this study addresses the critical knowledge gap regarding the combined use of this technique with mulching to enhance water use efficiency in crops, such as Capsicum chinense (commonly known as “pimenta de cheiro”). Such studies should also address the need for information on economic and yield‐related aspects, which are critical for decision‐making by farmers. This study aimed to determine the physiological, production, and economic parameters of Capsicum chinense under partial root drying and deficit irrigation, with and without soil mulching. The study was conducted from 2018 to 2019 in the semiarid region of Ceará State, Brazil. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block split‐plot design with four replications. The primary treatment consisted of the following irrigation strategies: full irrigation (FI), deficit irrigation with 70% FI (DI 70 ), deficit irrigation with 40% FI (DI 40 ), and partial root drying zone irrigated with 70% (PRD 70 ) and 40% (PRD 40 ) FI treatment, alternating (every 7 days) the dry and wet sides of the root zone. Subplot treatments consisted of two mulch rates, 0 and 21 t·ha −1 . Plants cultivated in mulched soil had a substantially higher water productivity in both seasons, being 26.05% higher (6.29 kg·m −3 ) in 2018 and 26.17% higher (4.82 kg·m −3 ) in 2019 than unmulched treatments. The results indicated that FI improved physiological, productive, and economic performance (net present value of 71,486.96 € ha −1 ). However, under conditions of water shortage, combining DI 70 or PRD 70 strategies with mulching emerges as a financially viable alternative (net present value of 60,284.99 and 64,598.57 € ha −1 , respectively). Irrigation strategies that reduce the volume of applied water by 30%, such as DI 70 and PRD 70 , when combined with mulching, can be effectively used for Capsicum chinense cultivation in semiarid regions.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.