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Field evaluation and numerical simulation of water and nitrate transport in subsurface drip irrigation of corn using HYDRUS-2D

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Abstract

To reduce the harmful environmental effects of fertilizer application in irrigated agriculture, evaluating alternative fertigation management practices is essential in different irrigation systems. This study aims to evaluate the water movement and nutrient transport in the corn root zone under subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) using the HYDRUS-2D model in different irrigation and fertigation management practices. For this purpose, a 2-year field experiment was conducted in the growing seasons of 2018 and 2019. Three different irrigation levels, three fertilizer application frequencies, and two fertilizer injection times during each irrigation event were selected as different treatments. Irrigation levels included full irrigation (FI) and two deficit irrigations (DI) at 75% and 50% of the plant’s net requirement (DI75 and DI50). Three different fertigation frequencies including weekly, once every 2 weeks, and local recommendations in three splits were considered, and the fertilizer was injected at the end and middle of each fertigation event. HYDRUS (2D) was calibrated based on the conducted field experiments and the calibrated model was then utilized to simulate nitrate leaching and N uptake by corn in different treatments. The results indicated that the highest nitrate root uptake occurred in fertilizer application with three splits in all irrigation levels. N uptake in weekly and once every 2 weeks treatment in full irrigation was about 46% of the total applied fertilizer. However, reducing fertigation frequency to three splits increased N uptake to 59% in the studied fine-textured soil. As a result, it reduced the amount of residual nitrate in the soil at the end of the growing season which has high leaching potential. The findings of this study are significant in reducing the environmental effects of chemical fertilizer abuse and increasing the efficiency of fertilizer uptake by corn in SDI.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Water Engineering, Urmia University, 11 Km Sero Road, Urmia, Iran

    Farshad Khashaei, Javad Behmanesh & Vahid Rezaverdinejad

  2. College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang, Shaanxi, China

    Nasrin Azad

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  1. Farshad Khashaei
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  2. Javad Behmanesh
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  3. Vahid Rezaverdinejad
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  4. Nasrin Azad
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FK and JB wrote the main text of the manuscript and VR and NA improved the prepared initial prepared text.

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Correspondence to Javad Behmanesh.

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Khashaei, F., Behmanesh, J., Rezaverdinejad, V. et al. Field evaluation and numerical simulation of water and nitrate transport in subsurface drip irrigation of corn using HYDRUS-2D. Irrig Sci 42, 327–352 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-023-00890-7

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