Evapotranspiration from citrus trees growing in sandy soil under drip irrigation with saline water

An experiment on evapotranspiration from citrus trees under irrigation with saline water was carried out for 4 months. Two lysimeters planted with a citrus tree in the green house were used. One lysimeter was irrigated with saline water (NaCl and CaCl2 of 2000 mg/L equivalence,EC = 3.8 dS/m, SAR = 5.9) and the other was irrigated with freshwater using drip irrigation. The applied irrigation water was 1.2 times that of the evapotranspiration on the previous day. Evapotranspiration was calculated as the change in lysimeter weight recorded every 30 minutes. The lysimeters were filled with soil with 95.8% sand. The results of the experiment were as follows. (i) The evapotranspiration from citrus tree was reduced after irrigation with saline water. The evapotranspiration returns to normal after leaching. However it takes months to exhaust the salt from the tree. (ii) To estimate the impact of irrigation with saline water on the evapotranspiration from citrus trees, the reduction coefficient due to salt stress (Ks) was used in this experiment. Evapotranspiration under irrigation with saline water (ETs) can be calculated from evapotranspiration under irrigation with freshwater (ET) by the equationETs =Ks× ET. Ks can be expressed as a function ofECsw. (iii) The critical soil-water electrical conductivity (ECsw) is 9.5 dS/m, beyond which adverse effects on evapotranspiration begin to appear. IfECsw can be controlled at below 9.5 dS/m, saline water can be safely used for irrigation.