Study of Water Use Efficiency of Tomato Crops at Different ‎Rates of Potassium Fertilization and Irrigation

Abstract

This study was conducted in Janzour, west of Tripoli, to examine the effect of potassium ‎fertilization and drip irrigation on water use efficiency in order to determine the best level of ‎irrigation and fertilization that gives acceptable productivity to the tomato crop under the current ‎conditions of water scarcity and the high price of fertilizers. In this study, the potassium fertilization ‎rates were F1: 0; F2: 150; F3: 300 kg K2O ha^-1 in the form of potassium chloride fertilizer, and ‎irrigation rates were (75%, 100%, 125%) of the seasonal crop water requirements, which were ‎estimated at (7200) cubic meters per hectare. Moreover, recommended doses of nitrogen fertilizers ‎in the form of urea and phosphate fertilizers in the form of phosphorus pent oxide were also added ‎at rates of (220 and 60) kg per hectare, respectively. The experiment contained three replications in a ‎completely randomized block design (RCBD). The results showed that the best water use efficiency ‎‎(WUE) was 4.29 kg/m³ at an irrigation level of 100% and a potassium fertilization level of 300 ‎kg/ha, and the lowest value for water use efficiency (WUE) was 1.89 kg/m³ at an irrigation level of ‎‎125% and a potassium fertilization level of 0 kg/ha.‎