Effects of Drip Irrigation Quota on the Growth, Water and Fertilizer Use Efficiency of Flue-cured Tobacco

PurposeTo determine the suitable drip irrigation quota of flue-cured tobacco in Yuxi tobacco area.

MethodA field experiment was carried out with four levels of reference irrigation quantity (50% ET₀, 60% ET₀, 80% ET₀ and 100% ET₀) and three levels of wetted percentage (P)(0.4, 0.5 and 0.6), which to study the effects of drip irrigation quota on growth and utilization efficiency of flue-cured tobacco.

ResultThe reference irrigation quantity had a significant effect on the tobacco plant height, amount of stem dry matter, utilization rate of nitrogen and potassium fertilizer (P<0.05), had a very significant effect on the agronomic traits (except for plant height), amount of leaf and the whole plant dry matter, and utilization rate of irrigation water (P<0.01). The wetted percentage had a significant impact on the amount of leaf dry matter, root crown ratio, and irrigation water utilization rate (P<0.05), had a very significant impacts on the main agronomic traits, amount of stem and the whole plant dry matter (P<0.01). A significant interaction between the reference irrigation quantity and the wetted percentage was detected with respect to the effect on dry matter of tobacco leaves and the whole plant, and the utilization rate of irrigation water (P<0.05). A very significant interaction between the reference irrigation quantity and design wetting ratio was detected with respect to the effect on the number of leaves and plant height of flue-cured tobacco leaves (P<0.01). Among the different irrigation quota treatments, the biomass, agronomic traits of flue-cured tobacco in the mature period, and the utilization efficiency of N, P, K and irrigation water were found the highest in the treatment of 80% ET₀-0.5P. The amount of dry biomass of tobacco leaves and the whole plant, the N and P use efficiency increased by 14.6%−97.5%, 4.3%−72.8%, 9.4%−84.2% and 11.3%−178.1%, respectively, compared with that of other treatments.

ConclusionThe appropriate drip irrigation quota for the tobacco growth period is 200 mm in the experiment region.