Prospects for using sprinkler irrigation for carrots (Daucus carota L.) in the Foothills of South-east Kazakhstan

Abstract

The soil and climatic conditions of south-east Kazakhstan are favorable for growing sufficient amounts of agricultural crops, including vegetables. Kazakhstan was on the bottom line in terms of water supply among the post-Soviet countries before it became an independent state. Therefore, among recent tendencies there is a shortage of irrigation water and worsening of soil fertility mostly associated with global warming/climate change, and as a consequence of the irrigation systems' destruction during the period of changes. Consequently, such issues encourage agricultural scientists to investigate and adapt water-saving technologies to the local soil and climatic conditions. These technologies allow water saving and protect the soil from erosion due to irrigation, as well as increasing the productivity of agricultural crops of particular vegetables. Thus, in the conditions of the south-east Kazakhstan several studies have been conducted to evaluate the sprinkler irrigation system (finely dispersed irrigation) for carrots. The aim of this paper is to assess the effect of sprinkler irrigation on the water consumption of the carrot crop, contamination of the fields, yield and quality of the product. It has been established that finely dispersed irrigation (sprinkler irrigation) helps to conserve irrigation water by 18.44% on the carrot sowings compared to traditional method of watering. Moreover, sprinkler irrigation contributed to higher yields of the carrot, improved the product quality and led to the reduction of the field contamination.