Soil mulching and deficit irrigation effect on sustainability of nutrients availability and uptake, and productivity of maize grown in calcareous soils

ABSTRACT

Plants are subjected to low use efficiency of water and nutrients in marginal lands such as calcareous soils. Moreover, plant wastes are not utilized optimally by the farmers. Hence, field trials were carried out in 2018 and 2019 summer seasons to find the practicable model which can be emerged through addition of sugar beet residues as mulching material and irrigation treatments in maize field. The amount of these residues were 0, 2.4, 7.2 and 12.0 ton ha⁻¹ (denoted ‎ M₀ M₁ M₂ and M₃, respectively). Irrigation treatments were 60%, 80% and 100% of crop evapotranspiration (signed as W₆₀, W₈₀ and W₁₀₀, respectively). The study was established in a strip plots design with three replications. Findings exhibited that W₈₀ x M₃ or M₂ were as similar as W₁₀₀ x M₂ in improving biological, straw and grain yields ha⁻¹. Similar beneficial effect of W₁₀₀ or W₈₀ on nutrient uptake was obtained under mulching soil with M₃ or M₂. Moreover, M₁ x W₈₀ or W₁₀₀ achieved the maximally available phosphorus (P) in soil. As well, M₃ x W₈₀ showed stable improvement in water use efficiency during the two studied seasons. Due to irrigation and soil mulching combinations, calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) was reduced by 5.6.1–32.6% compared to the initial CaCO₃ in soil (25.42%). Generally, application of sugar beet residues at a rate of 7.2 ton ha⁻¹ and moderate irrigation water supply, that is 80% of crop evapotranspiration may be considered a promising quixotic practice for regulating deficit irrigation in maize grown in calcareous soils. Continuous application of compatible irrigation regime and soil mulching, for example, 80% of crop evapotranspiration plus soil mulching could have the potentiality to improve calcareous soil properties year after year.

KEYWORDS:

• Drought
• plant residues
• maize yield
• soil nutrient balance
• economic profitability

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge technical support provided by Desert Research Centre and Central Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Egypt.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.