Modelling soil water redistribution in irrigated Japanese plum (prunus salicina) orchards in the Western Cape (South Africa)
Loading...
Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
Japanese plum (Prunus salicina) farming in the Western Cape (South Africa) is an important
industry for the export market and job creation and is a large water user; however, adequate information
on water requirements of this crop is not available in this semi-arid area. The objective of this
study was to determine seasonal plum water requirements for the purpose of water use planning
and allocation. The study made use of experimental data from four fully bearing, high-yielding plum
orchards (cv African Delight and Fortune) in two major plum production regions (Robertson and
Wellington). Crop water requirements and the soil water balance were modelled with the physically
based HYDRUS-2D model. Seasonal crop water requirements were estimated to be between 524 mm
(cv Fortune inWellington) and 864 mm (cv African Delight in Robertson).
Description
Keywords
Crop production, Climate change, Geoscience, South Africa, Agriculture, Farming
Citation
Jovanovic, N. et al. (2023). Modelling soil water redistribution in irrigated Japanese plum (prunus salicina) orchards in the Western Cape (South Africa). Horticulturae, 9(3), 395. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9030395