Nang War May Maung

Date palm cultivation in Israel, particularly in the Arava Valley with high evaporative demand, relies on high-frequency irrigation with saline water. Irrigation plays a crucial role in date palm growth, soil salinity, and yield quality. However, over-irrigation wastes water resources and contaminates water bodies with agrochemicals. Plant-based sensors offer a real-time monitoring of plant physiological responses to water stress, providing valuable insights into plant water status. The objective was to optimize irrigation scheduling by using plant-based sensors to monitor date palm responses to varying irrigation systems and amounts, thereby establishing threshold parameters for effective irrigation management. Sixteen fully mature date palm trees were irrigated under two irrigation systems: a larger irrigated area with fifty drippers (D) and a smaller area with two emitters per tree (E), both having the same total flow rate; and two irrigation levels: 50% and 100%. Canopy temperature (Tcanopy), frond growth rate, and stem daily shrinkage (MDS) were continuously measured by automated sensors, while frond growth rates were also periodically manually measured. Stomatal conductance (gsw) was measured biweekly. The 100% irrigation treatment significantly increased the frond growth rate and gsw compared to the 50% irrigation. However, the 50% irrigation treatment increased MDS. There was no difference in Tcanopy and yield between 50% and 100% irrigation. No effect of the irrigation systems on the measured parameters was seen. The integration of plant-based sensors, for measuring plant physiological processes, into date palm cultivation has the potential to enable real-time monitoring of water stress effects, facilitating precise irrigation management.