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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The Mediterranean Basin is a climate change hot spot where substantial warming
and lower water availability is predicted. This scenario poses considerable challenges to
olive groves, a crop with great ecological and socioeconomic importance. ln order to
overcome these constrains, new cropping practices focusing on water use efficiency must
be investigated. ln this work we aimed to investigate water management practices that
can ensure the adequate compromise between yield and the quality of olive products. The
study was conducted in Quinta do Prado, Lodões, Vila Flor (41 °20'13.3"N, 7°05'54.2"W)
and a full irrigation (FI) control, applied daily, equivalent to 100% of crop
evapotranspiration (ETc), was compared with three deficit irrigation strategies (DIS):
regulated deficit irrigation (RDI; 80% of ETc in phases I and III of fruit growth and 10%
of ETc in pit hardening stage, phase TI; 56 % of the ETc in all season), sustained deficit
irrigation (SDI; 27.5% of ETc), and sustained deficit irrigation adopted by the farmer
(SDIAF; 21.2% of ETc, applied weekly). The impact of treatments on fruit yield and
quality during 2016 were evaluated. Using FI treatment as reference, no significant
influence of RDI and SDI treatments were felt in crop yield, while the SDlAF treatment
reduced it significantly (P<O.Ol ). Fruit quality analysis showed that the SDI treatment Ied
to higher antioxidant activity than in FI and SDIAF treatments. However, the SDIAF
strategy led to higher accumulation of both total phenols and flavonoids (P<O.Ol ). The
fruit fat content was significantly higher in deficit irrigation treatments, when compared
to the FI treatment. lrrigation treatments also induced changes in fruit fatty acids profile
(P<O.OOl) since palmitoleic acid (C16:1) decreased in the deficit irrigation treatments,
linoleic acid (Cl8:2) decreased in the SDIAF treatment, and linolenic acid (C18:3)
decreased in RDI and SDI treatments. Except for SDIAF, despite the great disparity in
the amount of water used among treatments, there were no significant differences in fruit
production. Hence, with an increase of 30% in water consumption, changing from the
SDlAF to the SDl treatment, this particular farmer can increase the orchard production,
without losing fruit fat content and antioxidant capacity. This work gives new insights
about the effect of DlS when used in olive orchards and might help to illustrate the
sustainability of these management practices.
Description
Keywords
Irrigation Olive tree Fruit yield Fruit quality
Citation
Gonçalves, Alexandre; Martins, Sandra; Silva, Ermelinda; Brito, Cátia; Pinto, Luís; Rocha, Luís; Pavia, Ivo; Luzio, Ana; Nunes, Fernando; Rodrigues, M.A.; Moutinho-Pereira, José; Correia, Carlos (2018). Fruit yield and quality of olives under different deficit irrigation strategies. In II Simpósio Internacional de Águas, Solos e Geotecnologias (SASGEO). Vila Real