Abstract
This chapter presents results of a 3-year field investigation in a vineyard located in Sicily (Mazara del Vallo, Trapani) within the framework of the Project “Evolution of cropping systems as affected by climate change” (CLIMESCO). Soil-plant responses to two saline irrigation waters were determined by measuring soil hydrological characteristics, soil salinity, crop transpiration and stomatal conductance in field plots of a Sicilian vineyard. The results proved that crop transpiration (T r) and stomatal conductance (G s) were significantly affected by soil salinity conditions, expressed by electrical conductivity of soil saturation extract (ECe). Significant reductions in T r and G s were found in plants irrigated with water of ECw = 1.6 dS m−1 (L) compared to T r and G s values in plots irrigated with water ECw = 0.6 dS m−1 (R). Significantly higher crop water stress index (CWSI) values, indicating stronger stress conditions, were measured in the L treatment, relative to the R treatment. Validity of the linear relationship between relative yield and relative transpiration was confirmed. A value of 0.7 for the yield response factor (Ky) provided accurate prediction of yield reduction in years 2008 and 2009. Reductions due to soil salinity, calculated according to Maas and Hoffman equation, showed that under conditions of water and salinity stress, yield reduction due to salinity represented a percentage of the total yield reduction of up to 11% in the L plots and up to 3.5% in the R plots. The investigation also indicated that ECe (1.5 dS m−1) discriminated a different plant response to salinity, indirectly confirming the Maas threshold value for grapes. Under the irrigation conditions in the Sicilian vineyard, it is suggested to implement management strategies aimed at keeping soil salinity below this threshold value. This can be realized by using low-salinity irrigation water only or by alternating the two irrigation sources.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bresler E (1987) Application of conceptual model to irrigation water requirement and salt tolerance of crops. Soil Sci Soc Am J 51:788–793
Bresler E, Hoffman GJ (1986) Irrigation management for salinity control: theories and tests. Soil Sci Soc Am J 50:1552–1560
Brutsaert W (1966) Probability laws for pore-size distribution. Soil Sci 101:85–92
Cardon GE, Letey J (1994) Plant water uptake terms evaluated for soil water and solute movement models. Soil Sci Soc Am J 32:1876–1880
Crescimanno G (2001) Irrigation practices affecting land degradation in Sicily. Ph.D. dissertation thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen. ISBN 9058084264
Crescimanno G (2009) Irrigation, salinization and desertification in Sicily. In: Crescimanno G, KB Marcum (eds) Irrigation, salinization and desertification. Evolution of Cropping Systems as Affected by Climate Change (CLIMESCO), Aracne. ISBN 978-88-548
Crescimanno G, Garofalo P (2005) Application and evaluation of the SWAP model for simulating water and solute transport in a cracking clay soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 69:1943–1954
Crescimanno G, Garofalo P (2006a) Management scenarios optimizing irrigation with saline water in cracking clay soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:1774–1787
Crescimanno G, Garofalo P (2006b) Salinization, land degradation and management of irrigation in arid and semi-arid countries. In: Plenary conference. Proceedings of the X National and II International Soil Science Congress, soil: food security and poverty. Agrarian University La Molina, Lima, Peru, 6–10 Nov 2006
Crescimanno G, Marcum KB (2009) Irrigation, salinization and desertification. In: Evolution of cropping systems as affected by climate change (CLIMESCO), Aracne. ISBN 978-88-548
Crescimanno G, Provenzano G (1999) Soil shrinkage characteristic in clay soils: measurement and prediction. Soil Sci Soc Am J 63:25–32
Crescimanno G, Lane M, Owens PN, Rydell B, Jacobsen OH, Düwel O, Holger Böken H, Berényi-Üveges J, Castillo V, Imeson A (2004) Taskgroup 5. Link with organic matter and contamination working group and secondary soil threats. Reports of the technical working groups established under the thematic strategy for soil protection. Volume 2 Erosion (Lieve Van-Camp, Benilde Bujarrabal, Anna Rita Gentile, Robert JA Jones, Luca Montanarella, Claudia Olazabal, Senthil-Kumar Selvaradjou (eds) (2004) EUR 21319 EN/2. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/pdf/vol2.pdf
De Wit CT (1958) Transpiration and crop yield. Versl Landbouwk Onderz 64.6 Institute of Biological Chemical Research Field Crops and Herbage, Wageningen
Doorenbos J, Kassam AH (1979) Yield response to water. Land and Water Development Division, FAO, Rome
Downton WJS, Loveys BR, Grant WJR (1990) Salinity effects on the stomatal behaviour of grapevine. New Phytol 116:499–503
Hargreaves GH, Samani ZA (1982) Estimating potential evapotranspiration. J Irrig Drain Eng ASCE 108(IR3):223–230
Hasegawa P, Bressan R, Zhu JK, Bohnert H (2000) Plant cellular and molecular responses to high salinity. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 51:464–497
Maas EV (1990) Crop salt tolerance. In: Tanji KK (ed) Agricultural salinity assessment and management. ASCE manuals and reports on engineering, no 71. ASCE, New York, pp 262–304
Maas EV, Hoffman GJ (1977) Crop salt tolerance-current assessment. J Irrig Drain Div ASCE 103:115–134
Nimah M, Hanks RJ (1973) Model for estimating soil, water, plant and atmospheric interrelations: I. Description and sensitivity. Soil Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 37:522–527
Rhoades JD (1993) Electrical conductivity methods for measuring and mapping soil salinity. In: Sparks DL (ed) Adv Agron 49:201–251
Shani U, Dudley LM (2001) Field studies of crop response to water and salt stress. Soil Sci Soc Am J 65:1522–1528
Shannon MC, Grieve CM (1999) Tolerance of vegetable crops to salinity. Am Soc Hort Sci 78:5–38
Soil Survey Division Staff (1993) Soil Survey Manual. USDA handbook no. 18. Soil Survey Division Staff, Washington, DC
Szabolcs I (1994) Prospects of soil salinity for the 21st century. In: 15th International Congress of Soil Science, Acapulco, Mexico
United Nations Population Division (1994) International conference on population and development (CPD), Cairo. www.ilga-europe.org/content/download/9950/58625/file/34-37.pdf
Walker RR, Blackmore DH, Clingeleffer PR, Correll RL (2002) Rootstock effects on salt tolerance of irrigated field-grown grapevines (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Sultana) 1. Yield and vigour inter-relationships. Aust J Grape Wine Res 8:3–14
Acknowledgements
Research funded by Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca scientifica (MIUR, Italy) under the project “Evoluzione dei sistemi colturali in seguito ai cambiamenti climatici” (CLIMESCO).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Crescimanno, G., Marcum, K.B. (2013). Plant Response to Saline-Water Irrigation in a Sicilian Vineyard. In: Shahid, S., Abdelfattah, M., Taha, F. (eds) Developments in Soil Salinity Assessment and Reclamation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5684-7_29
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5684-7_29
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5683-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5684-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)