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Effect of Water Regimes and Palm Coefficient on Growth Parameters, Date

Yield and Irrigation Water Use of Tissue Culture-Regenerated ‘Barhee’ Date
Palms Grown in a Newly Establishe...

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DOI: 10.1002/ird.2016

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 IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE
Irrig. and Drain. 65: 491–501 (2016)
Published online 18 May 2016 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/ird.2016

EFFECT OF WATER REGIMES AND PALM COEFFICIENT ON GROWTH PARAMETERS,

DATE YIELD AND IRRIGATION WATER USE OF TISSUE CULTURE-REGENERATED
‘BARHEE’ DATE PALMS GROWN IN A NEWLY ESTABLISHED ORCHARD†

ADEL D. AL-QURASHI1, SALEH M. ISMAIL1,2* and MOHAMED A. AWAD1,3

1
Arid land Agriculture Department, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2
Soils and Water Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut, University, Egypt
3
Faculty of Agriculture, Pomology Department, Mansoura University, Egypt

ABSTRACT
A field experiment was carried out at the Agriculture Experimental Station of King Abdulaziz University during the 2013 and
2014 seasons to study the effect of water regimes and palm coefficient on growth parameters, yield and irrigation water use
(IWU) of tissue culture-derived ‘Barhee’ date palm cultivars in a newly established orchard. Four water regimes T1, T2, T3
and T4 representing 70, 85, 100 and 115% of water requirement were studied to select the best water regime that maximizes
yield and IWU. Water requirement in 2013 was calculated based on the FAO palm coefficient (Kp) but based on measured Kp
during 2014. Results revealed that using measured Kp reduces water requirements in the summer season and increases date
yield. It saves about 12% of irrigation water compared to FAO Kp. Increasing the water regime increased yield per palm, where
the highest yield was obtained from T4 (16.5 kg per tree), and the least from T1(12.4 kg per tree). IWU is increased by decreas-
ing the water regime. However, the differences between T4 and T3 were not significant, indicating that giving the highest water
regime produces the highest yield. It is concluded that increasing water supply maximizes yield production of young tissue
culture-derived ‘Barhee’ date palms in a newly established orchard. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
key words: date palm yield; irrigation water use; tissue culture; Saudi Arabia

Received 9 November 2014; Revised 7 January 2016; Accepted 8 January 2016

RÉSUMÉ
Une expérience sur le terrain a été réalisée à la station expérimentale d’agriculture de l’Université King Abdulaziz au cours des
saisons 2013 et 2014 pour étudier l’effet du régimes hydique et du coefficient cultural du palmier dattier sur les paramètres de
croissance, le rendement et l’utilisation de l’eau d’irrigation (IWU) de dattiers ‘Barhee’ issus de la culture tissulaire dans un
verger nouvellement créé. Quatre régimes hydriques T1, T2, T3, T4 et représentant respectivement 70, 85, 100 et 115% des
besoins en eau ont été étudiés pour sélectionner le régime de l’eau qui maximise le rendement et IWU. Les besoins en eau
en 2013 ont été calculés sur la base du coefficient cultural de la palme tel. que donné par la FAO (Kp), tandis que cette même
valeur a été mesurée au cours de 2014. Les résultats ont révélé qu’en utilisant la valeur mesurée de Kp réduit les besoins en eau
dans la saison d’été et augmente le rendement de la date. On économise ainsi environ 12% de l’eau d’irrigation par rapport à Kp
FAO. L’augmentation du régime hydrique a augmenté le rendement de la palme, avec un maximum pour T4 (16.5 kg/arbre), et
un minimum pour T1 (12.4 kg/arbre). IWU est. augmentée pour des valeurs diminuantes du régime hydrique. Toutefois,
l’absence de différences significatives entre T4 et T3 indique que le régime hydrique le plus élevé produit le rendement le plus
élevé. Il est. conclu que l’augmentation de l’approvisionnement en eau maximise la production de jeunes palmiers de culture
tissulaire ‘Barhee’ dans un verger nouvellement créé. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
mots clés: rendement du palmier dattier utilisation de l’eau d’irrigation; culture de tissus; Arabie Saoudite

*Correspondence to: Saleh M. Ismail, Soils and Water Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut, University, Assiut, Egypt. E-mail: smii2001@gmail.com
†
Effet des régimes de l’eau et du coefficient cultural du palmier dattier sur les paramètres de croissance, de rendement et le rendement en dattes et l’utilisation de
l’eau de dattiers ‘Barhee’ issus de culture tissulaire et cultivés dans un verger nouvellement créé.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

492 A. D. AL-QURASHI ET AL.
INTRODUCTION
The agricultural sector in Saudi Arabia is considered to be
the biggest consumer of the country’s limited water
resources. Therefore, water used for irrigation purposes is
counted as one of the most important factors that affect
water resource abstraction. On the other hand, the govern-
ment encourages expansion of the cultivated area, especially
date palm orchards. Date palm trees are characterized by
consuming large amounts of irrigation water. The large
number of date palms grown in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia (KSA) and the limited water resources force
researchers and decision makers to improve date palm water
productivity by reducing its irrigation water consumption to
maintain long-term productivity (Abderrahman and
Al-Nabulsi, 2001; Ministry of Agriculture and Water,
2006). Date palm plants generated by the tissue culture tech-
nique are the best choice to overcome the shortage of
offshoots required for expanding date palm cultivation. This
technique can provide a great number of homogenous plants
that are true to type, free of disease and can be produced at a
large scale (Awad, 2007; Zaid and de Wet, 1999). However,
one of the major weaknesses of the mass tissue culture prop-
agation method is the appearance of undesired off-type
plants, such as fruit set failure, abnormal and/or delayed
flowering time, especially during the young age of the tree.
So far, there is no concrete reason for these abnormalities
and it could be related to changes in the DNA, climatic
factors and/or cultural practices including the pollination
process, fertilization and irrigation regimes. It is known that
water regime, especially at young ages, has a direct effect on
flowering, fruit setting and total yield. Correct and adequate
irrigation is very important for date palm trees to ensure
good palm growth, high yields and good fruit quality, espe-
cially at young ages (Bazza, 2008). Generally date fruit
production is negatively affected by lack of an adequate
level of irrigation water. Due to the differences in weather
conditions in Saudi Arabia, the water requirements for a
mature date palm tree range from 115 to 306 m3 yr.
1 (Al-
Baker, 1972). In the Eastern Region the minimum water re-
quirement was about 53 m3 yr.
1 per tree, while it was
64 m3 yr.
1 in Hofuf Region (Khalifa et al., 1983). Applied
irrigation methods have a large effect on date palm water
requirements (Al-Almoud, 2010). Date palm water require-
ment ranged from 137 m3 in the Eastern Region to about
195 m3 in the Central Region under surface irrigation
compared to 55 and 78 m3 per tree in both regions respec-
tively, under drip irrigation (Alazba, 2004). Ismail et al.
(Ismail et al., 2014) reported that, for full mature fruiting
date palms, giving 65% of the water requirement by using
drip irrigation produced a similar yield as fully irrigated
palms in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. Subsurface
drip irrigation can reduce date palm water requirement to
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
less than 40 m3 per tree (Alamoud and Al-Saud, 2011).
Alamoud et al. (Alamoud et al., 1999) studied the response
of date palms to several water regimes by using three irriga-
tion methods (basin, bubbler and drip irrigation systems).
They found that a general trend of yield increase as irriga-
tion increased, and water productivity was maximum for
drip-irrigated plots.
Specifying the proper date palm coefficient (Kp) is a
good approach to accurately calculate water requirement
since water consumption by the crop is derived from the
reference evapotranspiration (ET0) multiplied by an em-
pirical crop coefficient (FAO Penman–Monteith model).
This model estimates the reference crop evapotranspiration
better than other models (Valipour, 2014). The calculation
model is rather simple but its accuracy and resolution are
largely dependent on empirical estimates including: temporal
variations in the crop coefficient with season, phenological
stage, irrigation water salinity and the plant’s water status.
All of these variations imply that no crop coefficient can
be consistently valid (Bhantana and Lazarovitch, 2010;
Stanghellini et al., 1989). The date palm crop coefficient
for all regions of Saudi Arabia ranges from 0.80 to 0.99,
but varies for each month (Alamoud et al., 2012). Also,
the crop coefficient of date palm is not constant throughout
the growing season and ranges from 0.5 to 1.18, based on
growth stages (Mazahrih et al., 2012).
The previously presented references clearly show a
great debate on date palm crop coefficient values and cal-
culations, especially within different regions in Saudi
Arabia. Therefore, the aim of this research was to accu-
rately calculate young date palm water demand by speci-
fying the proper date palm coefficient (Kp) measured in
the Western Region of Saudi Arabia and the water
regime, which improve flowering, fruiting and maximize
date yield and irrigation water use of the tissue culture-
regenerated ‘Barhee’ date palm cultivar in a newly esta-
blished orchard.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Location and experimental design
During the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons, 20 uniform
tissue culture-regenerated palms 5 years old of the ‘Barhee’
date palm cultivar were selected in a newly established
orchard at the research experimental station of King
Abdulaziz University at Hada Al-Sham, 110 km north-east
of Jeddah (21° 48′ 3′′ N, 39° 43′ 25′′ E). The soil of the
experimental site is classified as sandy loam calcareous soil.
The experiment was designed as a randomized complete
block design with five replicates (one palm per replicate).
The palms were cultivated at 10 × 10 m and received the
normal cultural practices. All the trees were hand pollinated
Irrig. and Drain. 65: 491–501 (2016)
 DATE PALM WATER REQUIREMENT 493

from one male tree in both seasons. Following fruit set
(about 4 weeks from pollination), the crop load was adjusted
to four bunches per palm in 2013 and seven bunches per
palm in the 2014 season (representing leaf/bunch ratio of
about 8: 1).
Treatments
Four water regimes were investigated under the current
study to select the best water regime which maximizes fruit
yield production under dry land conditions. The water
regime treatments were T1, T2, T3 and T4, which repre-
sented 70, 85, 100 and 115% of irrigation water requirement
(WR) respectively. The full irrigation water requirement,
which was supplied in the third water regime (T3) was
calculated based on the Penman–Monteith equation for dry
land conditions as in Gafar (Gafar, 2010). The calculation
procedure of the reference evapotranspiration (ET0) based
on the recent Penman–Monteith equation required certain
input parameters including maximum and minimum temper-
ature, relative humidity, wind speed, effective rainfall and
sunshine hours. The average of the metrological data for 5
consecutive years (2009–2013) for the previous parameters
were collected from the Agro-meteorology station of King
Abdulaziz University situated in Hada Al-Sham and
presented in Table I.
The palm coefficient (Kp) for the first growing season was
taken from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) and ranged from 0.8 to 1.0, while
in the second growing season it was taken from measured
data taken during the first growing season and ranged from
0.65 to 1.26. The evapotranspiration area (Se) was calculated
from the active evapotranspiration radius (Re). The active
evapotranspiration radius was equal to 90% of the evapo-
transpiration radius (R). Se = ɳ R2e . Table shows the input
parameters and their values.
The palm evapotranspiration (ETp) in litres per tree per
day was calculated from the following equation:
ETp ¼ ET0  K p  S e (1)
Increasing salinity in irrigation water reduces the yields.
To get rid of salts in the root zone area the leaching require-
ment (LR) was considered to be 10% under the current
experiment since the soil texture is sandy loam. Then the
rate of palm requirement (RPR) in litres per tree per day
was calculated as follows:
ET p
RPR ¼ (2)
1
LR
The required amount of irrigation was added to the
palm tree via a drip irrigation network. Based on dripper dis-
charge, number of drippers around the tree and required
amount of irrigation water supply, the irrigation time was
calculated for each treatment. Irrigation events were three
times a week (Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday).
Palm coefficient (Kp)
The palm coefficient reflects the crop characteristics on crop
evapotranspiration. The Kp for the first year was taken from
FAO while in the second it was calculated as the dimension-
less ratio of the measured ETp during the first season of
2013 and the ET0 as follows:
ET p
Kp ¼ (3)
ET 0
where
ETp = actual crop consumptive use measured from the
field (mm day
1)
ET0 = reference evapotranspiration (mm day
1)

Table I. Average of 5 years’ meteorological data in the experimental area

Month Minimum temperature Maximum temperature Humidity Wind Sunshine Rainfall

°C °C % km day
1 Hours Mm

January 12.6 30.6 64 196 7 1

February 14.1 34.4 59 206 9 0
March 15.0 35.9 60 220 8 5
April 17.4 38.5 45 208 10 39
May 20.8 43.3 40 198 11 0
June 23.0 44.0 34 191 12 0
July 24.7 44.0 40 179 10 0
August 24.8 41.7 47 176 11 0
September 23.1 42.7 49 164 11 0
October 21.9 40.8 52 178 9 0
November 18.0 34.0 50 197 8 4
December 16.7 31.8 53 199 8 2.6

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Irrig. and Drain. 65: 491–501 (2016)
494 A. D. AL-QURASHI ET AL.
Actual evapotranspiration was computed as the difference
in soil moisture before and after irrigations and calculated as
follows:
Pw2
Pw1
ET p ¼ ∑  Dbi  Di
100
where
ETp = actual evapotranspiration in cm.
Pw2 = soil moisture percentage after irrigation in the ith
layer.
Pw1 = soil moisture percentage before next irrigation in
the ith layer.
Dbi = bulk density in g/cm3 (Al-Almoud, 2010) of the ith
layer of soil.
Di = depth of the soil ith layer of soil (cm).
i = number of soil layers in the root zone depth.
To obtain the actual evapotranspiration ETp, the soil
water content was measured directly before the irrigation
event and 2 h after it using the gravimetrical method dur-
ing the growing season of 2013. The change in soil water
content was calculated by the differences in soil water
content before and after irrigation. Then, the actual
evapotranspiration was calculated during the first growing
season by dividing the change in soil water content by
the length of interval between irrigations.
Collected data
The following parameters were recorded during and at the
end of each growing season:
• daily and total water supply for each water regime;
• water content distribution. Soil water content during
the growing seasons for each treatment was measured
Figure 1. Daily water supply during both growing seasons for all water regimes compared with calculated.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
by using the WATERMARK system as described in
Ismail et al. (Ismail et al., 2014);
• palm height;
• trunk diameter;
(4) • number of leaves
• total punch number;
• at commercial harvest, total date yield per tree was
recorded.
Statistical analysis
The obtained data were statistically analysed as a random-
ized complete block design with five replicates by analysis
of variance (ANOVA) using the statistical package software
SAS (SAS, 2006). Comparison between means was made by
the F-test and least significant differences (LSD) at P = 5%.
RESULTS
Daily and total water supply
Daily water supply for all investigated water regimes as pre-
sented in Figure 1 indicates that the water supply of palm
trees for all water regimes was gradually decreased from
September until it reached its minimum level during
January. Again, it was increased until it reached a maximum
level in May, and then decreased. The highest total water
supply during both growing seasons was recorded in T4,
followed by T3, T2 and T1, respectively (Figure 2). More-
over, the total water supply of the second growing season
was insignificantly higher than that of the first, in spite of
the large evapotranspiration area of the second growing
season compared with that of the first (Table II).
Date palm coefficient
The calculated palm coefficients (Kp) for all treatments and
their averages are presented in Figure 3. The results show
Irrig. and Drain. 65: 491–501 (2016)
 DATE PALM WATER REQUIREMENT 495

similar Kp values for T3 and T4 but both were higher than

T1 and T2. The Kp values of T2 were higher than those of
T1. The increase in Kp as a result of high water supply
resulted in significant differences in growth parameters and
yield per tree as clearly indicated in Tables III and V, espe-
cially for T3 and T4 compared with T1 and T2 respectively.
The average calculated Kp for all investigated treatments
was taken and compared with the Kp of the FAO. The results
of the comparison are presented in Figure 4. The results

Figure 2. Total water supply (WS) for investigated treatments during both
growing seasons. Table III. Growth parameters of tissue culture-derived ‘Barhee’
date palm trees in a newly established orchard as affected by
water regimes during the growing seasons of 2013 and 2014

Palm height Trunk Leaf Total bunch

(m) perimeter (m)number number
Table II. Input parameters used to calculate date palm water
requirement during both growing seasons
Treatment (T)
T1 70% of WR 3.61b 1.36b 35.6bc 16.0ab
Season Parameters
T2 85% of WR 3.51b 1.33b 35.2c 13.0c
T3 100% of WR 4.29a 1.53a 37.6ab 17.8a
2013 Palm coefficient (FAO (Kp))
T4 115% of WR 4.39a 1.48a 38.1a 14.7bc
0.85 in January
F-test *** *** * ***
0.90 in February
LSD (0.05) 0.33 0.085 2.3 1.95
1.0 from March to June
0.80 from July to December Season (S)
2013 3.63b 1.32b 29.0b 12.5b
Evapotranspiration area = 13.8 m
2014 4.27a 1.53a 44.2a 18.3a
2014 Palm coefficient measured (Kp)
F-test *** *** *** ***
0.85 in January
Treatment * Season
1.26 in February
0.92 from March to June (T * S)
F-test NS NS * NS
0.65 from July to December
Evapotranspiration area = 15 m
Means within each column followed by the same letter are not significantly
different; (NS) not significant.

Figure 3. Palm coefficient (Kp) calculated based on actual water consumption for investigated treatments during the first growing season.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Irrig. and Drain. 65: 491–501 (2016)
496 A. D. AL-QURASHI ET AL.
Figure 4. Comparison between measured palm coefficient Kp and the FAO Kp.
clearly revealed that under the conditions that prevail in the
Western Region of Saudi Arabia the highest palm coeffi-
cient (Kp) was in February and not during March–June
as indicated by the FAO. Also the calculated palm coeffi-
cient (Kp) during July to December was less than that of
the FAO.
Using the measured palm coefficient (Kp) to calculate
the required water supply during the second growing sea-
son resulted in higher required irrigation water supply dur-
ing February compared with the required water supply
calculated from the FAO palm coefficient (Kp), as clearly
shown in Figure 5. However, the calculated water supply
based on measured Kp was less than that calculated from
the FAO Kp during the rest of the year, which resulted
in 12% water saving, which can be obtained when the
measured Kp was applied.
Figure 5. Comparison between required water supply calculated from
measured Kp and that calculated from the FAO Kp during the second
growing season.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Moisture content distribution
The results of soil moisture content for all treatments during
both growing seasons measured at 50 cm are presented in
Figure 6. Results clearly revealed that the soil moisture
content during the first year was higher than that of the
second for all water regime treatments. Increasing water
regime increased the soil moisture content where the least
soil moisture content was obtained from the low water
regime (T1), then gradually increased to reach its maximum
in the highest water regime (T4). The soil moisture content
of T1 and T2 during the first growing season started to
increase from January, reaching a maximum level in March
and April, then it decreased. The soil moisture content of all
investigated water regimes showed a gradual decrease from
June to August during the second growing season (Figure 6).
Growth parameters
There were highly significant differences in growth parame-
ters among the treatments as affected by irrigation water re-
gimes (Table III). Palm height significantly increased by
increasing the water regime; the highest palm height was
found in T4 and T3 followed by the T1 and T2 treatments,
respectively. The highest trunk perimeter was obtained from
T3 but was significantly similar to trunk perimeter of T4;
however, both of them were significantly higher than those
of the T1 and T2 treatments. Leaf number per tree was
increased by increasing water regimes. The highest leaf
number was obtained from T4, followed by the T3, T1
and T2 treatments, respectively. The differences in leaf
number between T1 and T2 were not significant. The
highest significant bunch number was obtained from T3,
followed by T1, T4 and T2, respectively. Results also
indicated that all investigated growth parameters were
Irrig. and Drain. 65: 491–501 (2016)
 DATE PALM WATER REQUIREMENT 497

Figure 6. Moisture content distribution for investigated water regimes along the growing seasons.

significantly higher in the second growing season (2014) during 2014, followed by T3, T4, T1 and T2, respectively,
than in the first (2013). The effect of the interaction between during 2013.
season and investigated water regime was only significant
for leaf number.
Yields and irrigation water use (IWU)
The result of the effect of the interaction between season
and water regime on leaf number is presented in Table IV. Clear significant differences were found in yield among
The results indicate that the leaf numbers during 2014 treatments as affected by irrigation water treatments
were higher than those of 2013. The highest leaf (Table V). The highest yield was obtained from T4 followed
number was obtained from T4, T2, T1 and T3, respectively, by T3, T2 and T1 respectively. The differences in date yield
between T1 and T2 were not significant. Results also indi-
Table IV. Interaction effect between season and treatment on leaf cated that there were large effects of growing season on date
number of tissue culture-derived ‘Barhee’ date palm trees in a yield. The date yield of the second growing season (2014)
newly established orchard as affected by water regimes during was almost three times the first (2013).
the growing seasons of 2013 and 2014 Results of irrigation water use (IWU) m3 kg
1 per tree
presented in Table revealed that the highest IWU was
Treatments Leaf No.
2013 2014 obtained from the treatment which received the least water
supply, and gradually decreased with increasing water supply.
T1 70% of WR 27.6 cd 43.6a The highest IWU was obtained from T1 followed by T2, T3
T2 85% of WR 26.0d 44.4a and T4, respectively. Results of IWU clearly indicate that the
T3 100% of WR 31.8b 43.4a IWU of T1 and T2 were significantly similar and also show
T4 115% of WR 30.8bc 45.4a
LSD (0.05) 3.25 the same behaviour in T3 and T4. IWU sharply increased as af-
fected by the growing season. The amount of irrigation water
For each parameter, means within each column followed by the same letter required to produce 1 kg of date yield during 2014 is almost
are not significantly different. only one third of that required in 2013 (Table V).

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Irrig. and Drain. 65: 491–501 (2016)
498 A. D. AL-QURASHI ET AL.

Table V. Total yield and irrigation water use (IWU) of tissue evapotranspiration decreased and resulted in a decreasing wa-
culture-derived ‘Barhee’ date palm trees in a newly established ter supply. In reverse order, they gradually increased from
orchard as affected by water regimes during the growing seasons
of 2013 and 2014 February to June, while relative humidity decreased. There-
fore, evaporation and evapotranspiration increased and re-
Treatments Yield IWU sulted in the gradual increase in water supply (Table I).
(kg per tree) m3 kg
1 per tree Results show also a gradual increase in total water supply
from T1 to T4. This behaviour is logical and expected because
Treatment (T)
T1 70% of WR 12.4c 1.93a in T1, T2 and T4 the supplied water was 70, 85 and 115% of
T2 85% of WR 12.9c 2.15a the full water requirement of palm trees (T3). A similar find-
T3 100% of WR 14.6b 2.32ab ing was published by Ismail et al. (Ismail et al., 2014).
T4 115% of WR 16.5a 2.63b Large differences were found in measured Kp when com-
F-test *** * pared with the FAO Kp during the first year, especially in
LSD (0.05) 1.42 0.465
Season (S) February. The results could be attributed to the different
2013 6.73b 3.47b weather conditions in the western part of Saudi Arabia. In
2014 21.5a 1.05a the Western Region of Saudi Arabia the temperature in
F-test *** *** the winter season is high compared with different places
T×S in the world (Table I). Warm weather in these months, es-
F-test *** NS
pecially February, increased vegetative growth of date
Means within each column followed by the same letter are not significantly
palm and encouraged early flowering and fruiting. Early
different; (NS) not significant. flowering and fruiting increased Kp at the beginning of
the growing season, but decreased it at the end of the sea-
There was a significant interaction effect between season son. Such conditions resulted in the large differences be-
and water regime on yield per tree (Table VI). This revealed tween calculated water requirement based on measured
that yield per tree was not significantly affected by the ap- Kp and FAO Kp in February. The date palm crop coefficient
plied water regime in the 2013 season, in contrast to the was not constant throughout the growing season for all re-
2014 season. The highest yield was recorded in T4, followed gions of Saudi Arabia and ranged from 0.5 to 1.18, based
by T3, T2 and T1 of the 2014 season. on growth stages (Alamoud et al., 2012; Mazahrih et al.,
2012). Another possible reason for the large differences be-
tween the FAO Kp and measured Kp is that the model used
DISCUSSION to calculate water consumption as presented by Allen et al.
Results of daily water supply revealed a gradual decrease (Allen et al., 1998) is largely dependent on empirical
from September until it reached its minimum level during estimates including temporal variations in the crop coeffi-
January. Then, it started increasing until it reached its cient with season, phenological stage, irrigation water
maximum in May, then decreased. The results might be due salinity and the plant’s water status. All these variables
to the change in climatic data because temperature and imply that no crop coefficient can be consistently valid
sunshine hours decrease from September to January, while (Bhantana and Lazarovitch, 2010; Stanghellini et al.,
relative humidity is increasing. As a result evaporation and 1989; Valipour, 2015). Running the experiment in the sec-
ond season with the measured Kp resulted in a high crop
yield compared to the first season, indicating that the mea-
Table VI. The interaction effect between season and treatment on
yield of tissue culture-derived ‘Barhee’ date palm trees in a sured Kp in the location is more reliable and a better choice
newly established orchard as affected by water regimes during for calculating date palm water demand, because it saves
the growing seasons of 2013 and 2014 about 12% irrigation water; however, such results must
be repeated for several years if they are to be validated.
Treatments Yield (kg per tree) Decreasing soil moisture content during the second grow-
2013 2014 ing season (2014) compared to that of the first (2013) could
be attributed to the large increase in growth parameters of
T1 70% of WR 5.82d 19.0c 2014 compared to those of 2013. In the 2014 season, the
T2 85% of WR 6.56d 19.3c required water supply was calculated based on measured
T3 100% of WR 7.70d 21.6b Kp, so that it was almost the same as in 2013, while the
T4 115% of WR 6.84d 26.1a
LSD (0.05) 2.00 evapotranspiration area during 2014 was 15 m compared
with 13.8 m in 2013. Increasing the evapotranspiration area
For each parameter, means within or between each columns followed by the for the same water supply might reduce the soil moisture
same letter are not significantly different. content in 2014 compared to 2013. The gradual increase in

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Irrig. and Drain. 65: 491–501 (2016)
 DATE PALM WATER REQUIREMENT
soil moisture distribution from T1 up to T4 in both growing
seasons might be due to the gradual increase of water supply
from T1 to T4. The retained water also gradually increased
from T1 to T4. The differences in retained water in T3 and
T4 were low, while the water supply in T4 is 15% more than
T3. These results indicate that the water supply of T4 may
be more than the water required to bring the soil to field
12capacity, consequently a part of supplied water was lost
by deep percolation. The retained water in T2 was higher
than in T1. The results might be due to the fact that all the
supplied water in both treatments was retained in the soil.
Because of the higher water supply in T2 than in T1, the
retained water in T2 was increased compared with T1. In-
creasing retained water in the soil in spite of its light texture
could be attributed to the annual application of organic
matter. Increasing organic matter in the soil improved the
soil structure, increased aggregate stability, enhanced
infiltration rate, led to higher water-holding capacities and
increased water productivity (Narayan and Lai, 2006;
Tanaka et al., 2005).
The results of growth parameters clearly indicated that
increasing water supply from T1 to T4 gradually increased
plant height, trunk perimeter and leaf number. These results
might be due to the increase in available soil moisture as a
function of water supply. Increasing water stress as in T2
and T1 significantly reduced rate of stem length, trunk
perimeter and number of leaves, while irrigation at 100%
WR as in T3 or more as in T4 gave the highest significant
stem length, trunk perimeter and the leaf number. Similar
results were reported by Ismail and Almarshadi (Ismail
and Almarshadi, 2013), Singh et al. (Singh et al., 2011),
Kassem and Issa (Kassem and Issa, 2002) and Shahin
et al. (Shahin et al., 2001).
The least yield per palm was obtained from the treatments
which were grown under water-stress conditions (T1 and T2).
Under limited water consumption, mainly due to low water
supply, tree growth and yield are significantly reduced.
Photosynthesis capacity and assimilates production rate and
cell elongation are among the major processes inhibited by
drought. This could be a result of direct limitations like sto-
mata reduction and mesophyll conductance or of secondary
effects, such as oxidative stress and damage to photosyn-
thetic pigments and proteins. It is well known that stomatal
restriction is a major photosynthesis inhibitor under drought
conditions (Alrasbi et al., 2010; Chaves, 1991; Flexas et al.,
2004; Maas and Hoffman, 1990; Renninger et al., 2009;
Tripler et al., 2011; Youssef and Awad M., 2008). Yield
per palm of T1 was similar to T2, in spite of its lower water
supply. A possible explanation of this result is that drip
irrigation offers better distribution of water in the soil. As a
result, the root volume wetted beneath the surface is larger
due to lateral movement of water, and the slow application
and redistribution of soil water provide better soil aeration
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
499
and a wide wetted root zone. This condition may produce
better crop growth and yield (Ismail et al., 2014). The total
date yield of T4 was higher than that of T3 in spite of both
of them receiving the full irrigation water requirement, and
the results could be attributed to two reasons. First, root de-
velopment and nutrient availability: T4 received 15% higher
irrigation water than T3, and this water might infiltrate into
lower parts of the soil (below 50 cm) which encourages palm
root development to occupy a greater soil mass than in T3.
As a result, more water and nutrient absorption is expected,
resulting in the higher date yield (Ismail and Ozawa, 2007).
Second, salt leaching of irrigation water used in the current
experiment ranged from 2500 to 3000 ppm. Using such sa-
line irrigation water might accumulate large amounts of salt
in the root zone area. Giving 15% more water than the irriga-
tion requirement in T4 might leach the salts out of the root
zone area since its presence in high concentration might ad-
versely affect yield. Salinity stresses are usually associated
with growth inhibition and yield reduction due to the osmotic
effect on water uptake, reduced water conductivity of roots,
disrupted ion homeostasis in cells, inhibited metabolism,
damaged membranes, and divergence of energy to salt
protection (Frans et al., 1996; Greenway and Munns, 1980;
Tester, 2003; Tripler et al., 2011).
Results of IWU revealed that decreasing the supply of
required water increased IWU. Decreasing water supply
might prevent or decrease water losses. IWU was found to in-
crease as a result of decreasing losses, because the IWU values
are affected by reducing deep percolation, canopy
interception, soil type, and cultural and management practices.
Increasing date yields with a minimal water supply greatly in-
crease IWU. This may be due to the ability of palms to use wa-
ter effectively from the soil profile during water stress. Several
researchers found that IWU increased under soil moisture
stress and with practising deficit irrigation (Alamoud et al.,
2012; Ismail, 2012; Ismail et al., 2014; Kramer, 1995).
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study have potential implications for
decision makers and date palm producers especially in the
western part of KSA. Using Kp measured under the
conditions of the Western Region of Saudi Arabia reduces
water requirements in the summer season, which is charac-
terized by severe water shortage in that area, and increases
date yield. It saves about 12% irrigation water compared to
the FAO Kp. Growth parameters increase by increasing the
water supply. Increasing water supply increased yield per
palm, where the highest yield was obtained from T4
(16.5 kg per tree) and the least from T1 (12.4 kg per tree).
IWU increased by decreasing the water supply; however,
the differences between T4 and T3 were not significant,
Irrig. and Drain. 65: 491–501 (2016)
500 A. D. AL-QURASHI ET AL.
indicating that giving the highest water supply produced the
highest yield. In conclusion, the highest water supply (T4)
maximized yield production of tissue culture-derived ‘Barhee’
date palms in a newly established orchard. Also, it seems that
the age of the tree plays a critical role in the measured growth
parameters and date yield. Plants showed a substantial im-
provement in vegetative growth and fruit set percentage and
consequently yield as palms get older.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific
Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, under
grant No. (241/155/1433). The authors, therefore,
acknowledge with thanks DSR’s technical and financial
support. We would like to thank Dr. Mohamed Ibraheem,
Nageeb Al-Masoudi, BSc., Nour Gamal, BSc. and Saied
Sabry, BSc. at the Arid Land Agriculture Department,
Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land
Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, for their indispens-
able technical support.
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