2025-07-01 IRRIGATION SCIENCE 2025 43(卷), 4(期), (887-907页)
Italy is the third peach producer in the world. Late ripening peach-cultivars prosper in semi-arid Mediterranean climate, but they have higher water demands due to prolonged fruit maturation on the plants. Considering the climate change scenarios and limited water resources, water-saving techniques are imperative to optimize irrigation water usage. Various mulching materials applied to soil surface can reduce soil evaporation and enhance moisture soil retention. This study examines the benefits of plastic mulching film in an irrigated peach orchard over three seasons (2021-2023), evaluating yield, hydrological water use efficiency (WUEh) and water productivity (WP) under clean tillage without mulch (P0) and two types of photo-reflective plastic mulching films, white (P1) and silver (P2). Tree transpiration was measured using thermal dissipation method and water use efficiency was estimated as the ratio of transpiration to water supplied by irrigation and precipitation. Over the three seasons, P0 WUEh was 47% and 44% lower than P1 and P2, respectively. Plastic mulching treatments increased yield by approximately 18%, and enhanced WP by 39% compared with P0.
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