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Effect of integration of water and fertilizer on soil water–nitrogen transport characteristics in Bubbled-root Irrigation

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Abstract

Improving water and fertilizer use efficiency in arid and semi-arid regions can not only promote the sustainable development of regional crop production, but also effectively meet the challenges of future global water shortage and food security. Bubbled-root irrigation is a new water-saving irrigation technology developed for arid and semi-arid areas. It not only has the characteristics of precision irrigation (improving water and fertilizer utilization and irrigation efficiency), but also has the advantage of not being easily blocked. In this study, the infiltration capacity, wetting front transport characteristics, water and nitrogen transport, and transformation characteristics of Bubbled-root Irrigation under water and fertilizer coupling conditions were investigated in the arid region of Northwest China. The results showed that under the same infiltration time, the higher the fertilizer concentration, the greater the cumulative infiltration and wetting front (horizontal, vertical upward, and vertical downward wetting front) transport distance. Based on the results, a mathematical model with cumulative infiltration or wetting front as the dependent variable, fertilizer concentration and infiltration time as independent variables was constructed. The model has high reliability (The relative deviation between the fitted value and the measured value is within ± 10%), and can be used to guide the layout of emitters in the field and crop production. Under the same infiltration time, the higher the fertilizer concentration, the higher the content of water, ammonium nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen in the same soil node. For example, the soil water content of C = 12, 35, 60 g L−1 was 8.35%, 14.37%, 23.31% higher than that of C = 0 g L−1 at 10 cm horizontal and 40 cm vertical to the emitter. At the soil depth of 40 cm, the soil mass water content is 21.46%, 17.06%, 15.50%, and 10.37% at the end of irrigation and 1, 3, and 5 d of redistribution. The contents of ammonium nitrogen in soil are 228.13, 215.43, 183.16, and 116.43 mg kg−1 at the end of irrigation, 3, 5, and 10 d of redistribution, respectively. Redistribution of 5–10 d, soil \({\mathrm{NH}}_{4}^{+}\mathrm{N}\) content decreased significantly. Distribution of 1–10 d, soil \({\mathrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}\mathrm{N}\) content showed varying degrees of increase. The research results are helpful to promote the application of spring root irrigation in the world, improve the utilization efficiency of water and fertilizer, and provide a new way to alleviate the pressure of water resources and food security.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Fundamental Research Program of Shanxi Province (202103021223261); Program of Doctoral research Foundation of Shanxi Agricultural University (No. 2021BQ46); Program of Doctoral research Foundation of Shanxi Province (No. SXBYKY2021088).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan, 030031, Shanxi, China

    Xian Liu

  2. Ecological Environment Research Center of Middle Yellow River, School of Geography Sciences, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan, 030031, Shanxi, China

    Xian Liu

  3. Shanxi Institute of Organic Dryland Farming, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan, 030031, Shanxi, China

    Yueyue Xu

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, test design, test operation, data collection and analysis were performed by XL and YX. The first draft of the manuscript was written by XL and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xian Liu.

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Liu, X., Xu, Y. Effect of integration of water and fertilizer on soil water–nitrogen transport characteristics in Bubbled-root Irrigation. Irrig Sci 41, 379–393 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-023-00851-0

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