Water-potassium coupling at different growth stages improved kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) quality and water/potassium productivity without yield loss in the humid areas of South China

Precise water and nutrient regulation are the key to improving fruit quality and water productivity for kiwifruit orchards in Central Sichuan's hilly region where seasonal drought is becoming increasingly severe. Here, an experiment was set up to clarify how water-potassium coupling at differen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agricultural water management 2023-11, Vol.289, p.108552, Article 108552
Main Authors: Cui, Ningbo, Wang, Mingjun, Zou, Qingyao, Wang, Zhihui, Jiang, Shouzheng, Chen, Xi, Zha, Yuxuan, Xiang, Lu, Zhao, Lu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Enzyme activities
Kiwifruit qualities
Phenolic compounds
Potassium partial factor productivity
Water productivity
Water-potassium coupling
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Summary:Precise water and nutrient regulation are the key to improving fruit quality and water productivity for kiwifruit orchards in Central Sichuan's hilly region where seasonal drought is becoming increasingly severe. Here, an experiment was set up to clarify how water-potassium coupling at different growth stages affects kiwifruit yield, water/potassium productivity and quality. A conventional fertigation was set as the control treatment (CK), and two water deficit treatments (60% and 80% CK, denoted as LW and HW, respectively) with three potassium (K) deficit levels (40%, 60% and 80% CK, denoted as LK, MK and HK, respectively) were applied at each growth stage of the cultivar “Jinyan” kiwifruit. The phenolic compounds and key enzyme activities were evaluated, in addition to the yield and traditional physical and nutritional properties. Results showed that the water and K deficit would reduce the yield of kiwifruit, however the yield of HWMK treatments at stages I and II showed no significant differences compared with CK (P>0.05), HWMK treatment at stage III even increased the fruit yield. Water productivity (WP) and K partial factor productivity (KPFP) showed a trend of HW>LW, and reached the highest in HWMK treatment at all growth stages. The physical qualities were more affected by water, especially at stages I and II. HWMK treatments at stages I and II significantly increased fruit firmness by 30.20% and 21.56%, respectively (P
ISSN:0378-3774
1873-2283
DOI:10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108552