Interactive effects of nitrogen fertilization and irrigation on grain yield, canopy temperature, and nitrogen use efficiency in overhead sprinkler-irrigated durum wheat
Introduction
Durum wheat is an important winter crop in the desert regions of the southwestern United States. Due to a higher price paid for durum wheat, a large fraction of wheat producing areas of Arizona and California converted to durum wheat in the 1970s (Robinson et al., 1979). Currently, Arizona covers the third largest acreage of durum wheat grown in the United States, after North Dakota and Montana (USDA-NAAS, 2015). Durum wheat is a major crop in the EU, North Africa, and the Middle East (Garabet et al., 1998, Garrido-Lestache et al., 2005, Boukef et al., 2013). Similar to other crops, durum wheat production in an arid environment is limited by N and water availability. All field crop production in Arizona is irrigated (Schillinger et al., 2006). Due to growing populations and changes in climate patterns, water availability around the world is increasingly limited. Therefore, increasing crop yield and productivity with reduced water inputs is crucial.
Nitrogen management in durum wheat also faces constraints. Concerns include possible regulatory controls on N inputs or pressures from buyers to reduce carbon footprints associated with grain production. However, high N inputs are favored by producers because they receive a reduced price if durum grain protein is <14.3% protein (23 g N kg−1) (Blandino et al., 2015, Liang et al., 2014). Several studies have reported that late N applications near heading can boost durum grain protein (Ottman et al., 2000, Garrido-Lestache et al., 2005, Blandino et al., 2015). In addition to N fertilizer management, irrigation amounts and timing strongly influence grain N (Ottman et al., 2000). Low supplemental irrigation was associated with high durum protein grain, and full supplemental irrigation resulted in reduced grain protein (Oweis et al., 1999).
Another important grain quality measure in durum wheat is hard vitreous amber count (HVAC). Durum grain protein is positively related to HVAC and negatively associated with yellow berry, a starchy condition (Robinson et al., 1979, Anderson, 1985, Boukef et al., 2013, Blandino et al., 2015). Ottman et al. (2000) reported that decreasing levels of irrigation during grain-fill in Arizona increased HVAC. Thus, tools to improve irrigation scheduling can assist in the production of durum wheat with high HVAC and protein content. Ehlerer et al. (1978) suggested that durum wheat canopy temperature can be used to guide irrigation scheduling. Much of the seminal research on the use of infrared thermometry to monitor crop water stress and guide irrigation management was conducted with durum wheat in Arizona (Jackson et al., 1977, Idso et al., 1978, Idso, 1982). Over-application of N and irrigation in excess of crop requirements lead to greater lodging, grain loss, and N loss to the environment (Riley et al., 2001, Yu-Hua et al., 2007). In Tunisia, N fertilizer applications improved water use-efficiency of irrigations in durum wheat (Latiri-Souki et al., 1998).
The interacting effects of water and nitrogen balances in durum wheat cropping systems can be described with crop growth simulation models (Thorp et al., 2009). After thorough evaluation against measured cropping system data, the models can be extended to study long-term impacts of field management, assess climate change impacts on cropping systems, and provide guidance for in-season management decisions. However, limited field-measured data is often a critical weakness for crop simulation model evaluation. In particular, field studies that thorough assess durum wheat responses over a wide range of water and nitrogen management conditions are lacking.
It is clear therefore, that irrigation water and N fertilizer require judicious management for high quality durum wheat production in arid and semiarid regions. However, studies are lacking that investigate interactive effects of N and irrigation levels for irrigated durum wheat in dry regions. Recently however, moving overhead sprinkler irrigation has become more common (NASA, 2008). This enables much finer control over irrigation schedules than was previously feasible (Evans and Sadler, 2008), and provides the opportunity to evaluate whether or not infrared thermometry has a corresponding role in improved water and N management. The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the effects of N fertilizer rate on grain yield, above-ground biomass, canopy temperature, total N uptake, N use efficiency, grain N content, kernel weight, and percent yellow berry at varying overhead sprinkler irrigation levels and (2) to estimate optimal N fertilizer rate and overhead sprinkler irrigation level for durum wheat grain yield and grain N.
Section snippets
Experimental Layout and overhead sprinkler irrigation system
This field study was conducted in two growing seasons, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014, on a 1.3-ha, laser-leveled field at the Maricopa Agricultural Center (33.0675°N, 111.9715°W, 358 m above sea level) of the University of Arizona in Maricopa, Arizona. The site receives an average annual rainfall of 200 mm, and is classified as a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification). The soil is a Casa Grande sandy loam (fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, hyperthermic, Typic Natrargid, USDA-NRCS, 2013).
The
Plant biomass and total N uptake
Total above ground biomass increased linearly with an irrigation level up to level 7 (irrigation fraction 0.92–0.93) in both years, then plateaued (Table 3, Table 4, Fig. 2,). In 2013, biomass ranged from about 5000 to 8000 kg ha−1 among N treatments at 0.40 irrigation fraction, while 0.9 and higher irrigation fraction produced 10,000 to 23,000 kg ha−1 of biomass, depending on N treatments. Total biomass yields in 2014 were similar to those in 2013 (Table 3). Nitrogen fertilizer rate significantly
Discussion
This N × water durum wheat study demonstrated some well-known relationships involving grain yield, grain N, TKW, yellow berry, N rate, irrigation level, and high temperatures. Irrigated row cropping in arid regions is unique in achieving very high production levels compared to rainfed environments. Irrigation management with overhead sprinklers is assumed to be more efficient than flood irrigation. However, in this study RE of N was similar to a recent N rate study at the Maricopa site that
Conclusions
The durum wheat cultivar ‘Orita’ responded strongly to irrigation level and N fertilizer rate, though a warmer second season resulted in lower than expected yields. Grain yield was maximum at the 252 kg N ha−1 fertilizer rate and at the 10th water level (1.14 irrigation) in 2013 and between 168 and 252 kg N ha−1 at the 8th water level (1.0 irrigation) in 2014. Economic optimum N rate was at water level 8 in both years. Canopy temperature was related to grain yields and irrigation level. Higher
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