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Subsurface irrigation with ceramic emitters improves wolfberry yield and economic benefits on the Tibetan Plateau, China

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Abstract

Climate warming has led to the expansion of arable land at high altitudes, but it has also increased the demand for water use efficiency (WUE). To address this issue, the development of water-saving irrigation technology has become crucial in improving water productivity and economic returns. This study aimed to assess the impacts of three irrigation methods on water productivity and economic returns in wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.) cultivation on the Tibetan Plateau, China during a two-year field trial. Results showed that subsurface irrigation with ceramic emitters (SICE) outperformed surface drip irrigation (DI) and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) in terms of wolfberry yield. Over the two-year period, the average yield with SICE increased by 8.0% and 2.3% compared with DI and SDI, respectively. This improvement can be attributed to the stable soil moisture and higher temperature accumulation achieved with SICE. Furthermore, SICE exhibited higher WUE, with 14.6% and 4.5% increases compared with DI and SDI, respectively. In addition to the agronomic benefits, SICE also proved advantageous in terms of economic returns. Total average annual input costs of SICE were lower than the other two methods starting from the 8th year. Moreover, the benefit-cost ratio of SICE surpassed the other methods in the 4th year and continued to widen the gap with subsequent year. These findings highlight SICE as an economically viable water-saving irrigation strategy for wolfberry cultivation on the Tibetan Plateau. Thus, this research not only provides an effective water-saving irrigation strategy for wolfberry cultivation but also offers insights into addressing irrigation-related energy challenges in other crop production systems.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52079131, 51779246). We would like to thank the editors and reviewers for their constructive feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Mengxue Han

  2. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Lin Zhang

  3. Department of Foreign Languages, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    **aoqiang Liu

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  1. Mengxue Han
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  2. Lin Zhang
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  3. **aoqiang Liu
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Contributions

Conceptualization: HAN Mengxue, ZHANG Lin; Data curation: HAN Mengxue; Formal analysis: HAN Mengxue, ZHANG Lin; Funding acquisition: ZHANG Lin; Investigation: HAN Mengxue; Methodology: ZHANG Lin; Project administration: HAN Mengxue; Resources: ZHANG Lin; Supervision: ZHANG Lin, LIU **aoqiang; Validation: ZHANG Lin, LIU **aoqiang; Visualization: HAN Mengxue, LIU **aoqiang; Writing - original draft: HAN Mengxue; Writing - review & editing: HAN Mengxue, ZHANG Lin, LIU **aoqiang.

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Correspondence to Lin Zhang.

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Han, M., Zhang, L. & Liu, X. Subsurface irrigation with ceramic emitters improves wolfberry yield and economic benefits on the Tibetan Plateau, China. J. Arid Land 15, 1376–1390 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-023-0034-3

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