Tomato and Watermelon Production with Mulches and Automatic Drip Irrigation in North Dakota

In North Dakota, agriculture contributes a large sector of the state’s economy, but vegetable production is limited due to the state’s climate condition. Inadequate soil moisture and low soil temperature are the two major factors prohibiting quality produce and high-yield vegetable production. In this study, a soil-water potential, sensor-based drip irrigation system was developed, designed, and installed to evaluate its application on tomato and watermelon productions in a two-year field experiment in 2019 and 2020. The experimental treatments were drip irrigation and no irrigation under three mulches: black plastic, clear plastic, and landscape fabric mulches. Irrigation was scheduled at 8:00 am for watermelon and 9:00 a.m. for tomato, with the ability for each irrigation event to be bypassed based on the soil moisture conditions. Due to rainfall differences in the two years, irrigation was barely needed in 2019, but in 2020, drip irrigation was applied frequently. On average, for the two-years’ field experiment, the highest yield for tomatoes was obtained from drip irrigation under black plastic drip irrigation treatment with 40.24 Mg ha−1 in 2020, whereas the highest yield for watermelon was from drip irrigation under clear plastic mulch with 165.55 Mg ha−1 in 2020. The effect of mulch, irrigation, and combined practices were analyzed based on the average fruit weight and diameter, electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and sugar content of the samples. The results showed that for watermelon, the average weight and diameter were significantly heavier and higher with irrigation treatments, but the EC and the pH values were significantly higher with mulch treatments. For tomatoes, the average weight, diameter, pH, and sugar content were all significantly higher with mulch treatment, but the EC was higher with irrigation treatment

Water table depth effect on growth and yield parameters of hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.): a lysimeter study

Abstract Groundwater is a significant source of plant water use since groundwater consumption of plants reduces the volume of surface irrigation water. In this study, groundwater table effect on hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth and yield parameters were investigated using a lysimeter technique in a controlled environment. Three different groundwater table depths including 30, 60, and 90 cm and a control treatment with surface irrigation were tested. The results showed that water consumption in the 90 cm water table depth was 11% and 31% lower than the water consumption in the 60 and 30 cm water table depths, respectively. Consequently, the groundwater table depth increased, and crop water consumption decreased. Similarly, with the increasing water table depth from 30 to 90 cm in the lysimeter, the crop water use efficiency and crop yield increased by 79% and 71%, respectively. The 90 cm water table produced the highest crop yield, above-ground biomass, and kernel quality compared to 30 and 60 cm water table depths. Quality analysis of the wheat kernels indicated that the kernels from the 90 cm depth had relatively higher starch content, pasting properties, and gluten proteins compared to the kernels from other water table depths