Sustainable use of water resources in agriculture is a necessity for many arid countries. In order to investigate the effect of water deficit, irrigation after 120 (control), 155 (moderate water stress) and 190 mm (sever water stress) pan evaporation and super absorbent polymer rates (SAP) (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg ha -1 ) on growth, yield and water use efficiency of cotton, an experiment was conducted as split plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. Moreover, the effect of water quality (distilled water and solutions of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1 and 1.25% NaCl) was investigated on water holding capacity by SAP. Results revealed that moderate water stress (irrigation intervals of aprox. 15 days) along with 60 kg ha -1 SAP application was the best treatment in terms of growth and yield indices of cotton. The results for plant height, plant dry weight, boll number per plant and fiber yield in this treatment were 16, 28, 42 and 10% higher than control treatment, respectively. Water deficit and SAP application improved the water use efficiency (WUE) of cotton. The amount of WUE in moderate water stress treatment along with consumption of 60 or 90 kg ha -1 SAP was 26% higher than for control treatment. In addition, water holding capacity by SAP in distilled water treatment was 7 times higher than in the case of 1.25% NaCl solution. The overall results showed that irrigation deficit and SAP application are two appropriate strategies for crop production in areas affected by drought stress, especially if low saline water sources are used.

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Salinity effects on water uptake ability of superabsorbent polymer and manure

Effect of Super Absorbent Polymer and Irrigation Deficit on Water Use Efficiency, Growth and Yield of Cotton

As far as Iran is concerned in arid and semi-arid region and amount of water is limited, improvement of water consuming is very important. One of the ways for storing water is to use superabsorbent polymer. So, this research compared normal and deficit irrigation methods by considering the effects of stockosorb (0.1% and 0.3% by volume) and zeolite (10 weight% and 15 weight%) in two sandy soils (70% and 80%) on soil physicochemical characteristics (EC, pH, field capacity, available water, wilting point, bulk density, practical density, porosity, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and plant morphological traits (plant height, basal area, large and small diameter of canopy) of Atriplex lentiformis (Torr.) S.Wats. The research was carried out in the field of desert research centre in Semnan Province in 2013. A split factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design with four replications was used. Data were analyzed using SPSS16 software. The result showed that superabsorbent had a significant effect on plant height, large and small diameter of canopy. Also, superabsorbent had a significant effect on EC, pH, field capacity, available water, bulk density, porosity, K. However, they had no significant effect on wilting point, soil particle density, P and N. Also, the result of economical investigation of stockosorb and zeolite showed that using 10 wt% zeolite, 15 wt% zeolite and 0.1% stockosorb with normal irrigation is economical.

http://www.rangeland.ir/article_538250_585f1ac8c844e50d89c102e2ee3ccb80.pdf

The Effects of Superabsorbent Polymer on Atriplex lentiformis Growth and Soil Characteristics under Drought Stress (Case Study: Desert Research Station, Semnan, Iran)

Salinity effects on water uptake ability of superabsorbent polymer and manure

Citations

Effect of Super Absorbent Polymer and Irrigation Deficit on Water Use Efficiency, Growth and Yield of Cotton

The Effects of Superabsorbent Polymer on Atriplex lentiformis Growth and Soil Characteristics under Drought Stress (Case Study: Desert Research Station, Semnan, Iran)