EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SOIL MOISTURE LEVELS AND NITROGEN SOURCES ON LETTUCE YIELD (Lactuca sativa L.) UNDER SURFACE AND DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN CLAY LOAM SOILS

Ali, Seham M.; Eid, T. A.; Abd Elhady, A. M.

doi:10.21608/jpp.2015.52123

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SOIL MOISTURE LEVELS AND NITROGEN SOURCES ON LETTUCE YIELD (Lactuca sativa L.) UNDER SURFACE AND DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN CLAY LOAM SOILS

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Hort. Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Cent., Giza, Egypt

² Soil, Water and Environ. Res. Inst. Agric. Res. Cent., Giza, Egypt

10.21608/jpp.2015.52123

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at El-Kanater Horticultural Research Station in the two seasons of 2013/14 and 2014/15 to study the effect of two soil moisture levels (25 % and 50 % of available soil moisture i.e. medium and dry) under drip and surface irrigation systems and three sources of N- fertilizers, namely urea ( 46.5% N), ammonium nitrate ( 33.5% N) and ammonium sulphate ( 20.5% N) at the rate of 50 kg N/fed., as well as their interactions on applied irrigation water, water use efficiency, growth, yield quality and chemical composition of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)cv. Balady .
Results indicate that surface irrigation system showed higher applied irrigation water under 25% and 50% of the available soil moisture than the drip irrigation system during 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons. Drip irrigation system supported an increase of water use efficiency (23.84 and 22.57 kg/m³) in the first and the second seasons, respectively . Ammonium sulphate application slightly increased the water use efficiency W.U.E (23.65 and 24.16 kg/m³) in the two seasons, respectively. Results of the interaction indicate that the medium moisture (25 %) and Ammonium sulphate application under drip and surface irrigation systems increased all studied growth characters, yield and nutrient uptake of lettuce .

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