Diversified cropping systems effect on the water status of mandarin trees under deficit irrigation

The diversified cropping systems has several environmental benefits, but there is no certainty about their effect on the water status of trees, especially in areas with permanent low availability of irrigation water. Therefore, our objective was to evaluate the effect of the establishment of diversified cropping systems in a traditional monoculture (MC) of adult mandarin trees on its water status and yield under sustained deficit irrigation (SDI) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI). Six treatments were tested during three consecutive seasons: (i) a mandarin monoculture under SDI (MC-SDI), with permanent bare alleys and irrigated at ∼70 % ETc during the entire season (actual amount of irrigation water available in the area); (ii) a diversified mandarin crop (D1-SDI), irrigated as MC-SDI, with a rotation of fava bean and barley/vetch in the alleys; and (iii) a second diversified mandarin crop (D2-SDI), irrigated as MC-SDI, with a seasonal rotation of fava bean, purslane and cowpea. Additionally, three RDI treatments were evaluated, denoted as (iv) MC-RDI, (v) D1-RDI and (vi) D2-RDI, irrigated as MC-SDI, except during the stage II of fruit growth, when it was reduced by 50 % with an irrigation threshold of a solar midday stem water potential of ∼ –1.5 MPa. The mandarin yield was not affected by the effect of diversified cropping systems, but the RDI reduced it on average by 30.1 % with respect to SDI. The alley cropping of fava bean and barley/vetch during winter and spring under sustained deficit irrigation conditions reduced the water stress intensity of mandarin trees by 26.9 % over the entire season, while cultivation of purslane or cowpea during summer increased it by 60–144 %. Both diversifications required a greater amount of water than the monoculture, in these terms an additional reduction in the irrigation of mandarin trees, as in the RDI treatment, allowed to solve this additional water requirement, but promoted an increase in the water stress intensity of the trees, which may affect their productivity in the mid and long-term.