Moisture consumption by plum seedlings under drip irrigation in the Central Nonchernozem zone of Russia

The aim of the study was to establish influence of different soil moisture content and climatic factors on water consumption of plum seedlings grown in a fruit nursery in the Nonchernozem zone. According to the results of studies conducted on plum seedlings under drip irrigation in the Moscow region for two years, evapotranspiration with different precipitation availability and temperature was determined. Variability of total water consumption depending on meteorological factors and irrigation regime was considered. Studies have confirmed the increase in the value of evapotranspiration with increasing pre-irrigation threshold of humidity with low-volume drip irrigation. The maximum values of water consumption by year of research, as expected, were recorded in the most wetted variant of the experiment, where moisture content of soil root zone did not fall below 80 % of the field moisture capacity. The statistical analysis carried out did not confirm the effect of varietal characteristics on evapotranspiration, which may be associated with the use of related rootstocks and the use of seedlings with the comparable force of growth in laying the experience. Structure of evapotranspiration of plum seedlings was determined according to experimental data of two research years. Precipitation and irrigation were the most part of total water consumption.