Drip vs. Mini-sprinkler Irrigation System on Leaf Water Potential and Various Vegetative Attributes of Annona squamosa under Lebanese Conditions

May Hammoud (Department of Horticulture, University of Forestry, 10 Kliment Ohridski blvd, BG1797, Sofia, Bulgaria. And Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.)
Saleh Mobarak Alturk (Arid Land Agriculture Department, College of Agricultural and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 400, Al Ahsa 31982, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.)
Zeina El Sebaaly (Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon)
Youssef Najib Sassine (Agricultural Biotechnology Department, College of Agricultural and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 420, Al Ahsa 31982, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Agriculture Lebanese University, Beirut, Leb)

AGRIVITA, Journal of Agricultural Science
Vol 43, No 2 (2021)

Recently, the introduction of tropical crops in Lebanon represented a challenge for farmers and researchers. Constraints to the adaptation of such crops, to climatic and soil conditions were found. In this study, an orchard of Annona trees (Sq/Ch combination) was irrigated by minisprinkler system and drip system, and compared to a control (not irrigated) over two consecutive years (year 4 and year 5 of the project). Compared to the control, plant height and leaf number were improved the most in year 5 by drip irrigation. Leaf water potential that peaked in the summer season in control plants (-1.8 MPa) was the lowest in plants irrigated by drip system (-1.3 MPa). No significant difference was observed between treatments in the number of lateral shoots. TDM of plant parts was improved by drip irrigation in both experimental years by 81 g (year 4) and by 258 g (year 5). LMF was significantly enhanced in year 5 by the mini-sprinkler system. RMF was the highest in trees irrigated by drip irrigation (0.265 g/g) and the lowest in the control (0.227 g/g). SMF was the highest in control trees in both experimental years. It seems that drip system presented an optimal method for the irrigation of annona.