‍Comparison of different methods of moisture conservation in dryland cropping of Moringa peregerina

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Scientific Member, Forest Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran, Iran.

2 Senior Research Expert, Research Center of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Hormozgan province, Banda Abbas, Iran.

3 Research Expert, Research Center of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Iranshahr, Iranshahr, Iran.

Abstract

Long drought periods during plant growth are result in critical problems in establishment and restoration of plantations in Sahara - Sindian region of Iran. Application of water catchment and storage systems help to reduce drought stress and improve soil physical and chemical properties. To investigate the effect of moisture conservation methods on Moringa peregerina plantations, a 4-year study was designed from 2008 in an area in the vicinity of Rask town at Sarbaz river. The study was conducted using split plots design in three replications with the main plots comprising  of seed and pot seedling and the subplots being treated with five moisture conservation methods (straw and dried residual at the bottom of planting dig, tourkinest, plastic film, polymer materials mixed with soil and ditch). The pot seedling treatment resulted in less mortality than the seed treatment. Furthermore, a significant difference was observed amongst the applied moisture conservation methods (P<0.05). The highest survival rate was observed for the plastic film, tourkinest and dried residual treatments, respectively, while the lowest rates were shown by the polymer material treatment. Significant differences were observed between the water catchment and storage systems with respect to Moringa peregerina growth parameters, including total height, stem diameter and canopy cover (P<0.05). The tourkinest and dry residual treatments revealed the greatest performance, whereas polymer and ditch showed the lowest rates. Interaction between treatments revealed the highest growth for tourkinest, dried residual and pot seedling treatments, while the lowest growth was returned when using polymer material with seed treatments. As a conclusion, the application of tourkinest, plastic film and dried residual treatments in combination with pot seedling material are suggested to increase the success in afforestations across the similar arid region.
 

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References

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