Quantitative response of oil sunflower yield to evapotranspiration and soil salinity with saline water irrigation

• Published in: International journal of agricultural and biological engineering Vol. 9; no. 2; p. 63
• Main Authors: Xin, He, Peiling, Yang, Shumei, Ren, Yunkai, Li, Guangyu, Jiang, Lianhao, Li
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (IJABE) 01.03.2016
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Agricultural production; Crops; Experiments; Helianthus; Irrigation; Production functions; Saline water; Salinity; Salt; Water shortages; Wheat
• ISSN: 1934-6344; 1934-6352
• DOI: 10.3965/j.ijabe.20160902.1683

Appropriate application of water-salt-crop function model can optimize agricultural water management in regions with declining water supply, such as the Hetao district. Two water deficit levels were reported, 60% and 80% of the irrigation quota, which were considered moderate and mild deficit levels, respectively. All treatments were applied in planting the oil sunflower in critical growing periods, namely, floral initiation, anthesis and maturity. Linear, Cobb-Douglas, quadratic and transcendental function models were used to simulate the relative yield, evapotranspiration (ET) and electrical conductivity (EC). The predictive ability and sensitivity of each model were then evaluated. Compared with salt stress, water stress exerted a more significant effect on the oil sunflower yield; the water parameters (a^sub 1^ and a^sub 3^) were most sensitive in the water-salt-crop function model. Oil sunflower was most sensitive to water and salt stress during anthesis. The transcendental function generally showed a relatively high sensitivity coefficient and a relatively small statistical error.