Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) irrigation water requirements as affected by salinity in Oued Righ conditions, North Eastern Sahara, Algeria

Abstract

A field study on a saline condition was carried out at agricultural farm of Deglet Nour date palm during the 2012 growing season. It focuses on the irrigation water management problem as affected by salinity in Oued Righ region (North Eastern Sahara, Algeria). To determine irrigation requirements a computer model based on the computation of reference evapotranspiration, crop coefficient, water holding capacity, leaching requirements and daily water use by date palm was used. The average annual amount of irrigation for a palm tree was varied from 145-218 m 3 per palm. According to the system of irrigation used, localized irrigation of one ha containing 120 palm trees at Touggourt required water on annual basis as 17411 m 3 ha -1 year -1. On the other side, the use of traditional irrigation system (e.g., border irrigation) consumes more water to the tune of 26117 m 3 ha -1 year -1. This model was employed to improve water management practices by the farmers. The result shows that localized irrigation will, therefore, be more efficient than non-localized one (e.g., border irrigation) and it can reduce irrigation water up to 50%.