Stomatal oscillations and the response of citrus trees to different irrigation strategies in northern Zimbabwe

Horticultural crops (e.g. citrus) play an important role to the economies of developing countries such as Zimbabwe. The sustainable production of citrus depends on the availability of adequate water throughout the year since citrus is an evergreen crop. The increasing competition for water between citrus growers, other crop growers, recreation, industrial and domestic users means that less water is becoming available for irrigating large citrus plantations, such as the Mazowe Citrus Estate in northern Zimbabwe. The problem of water shortage is worsened by the effects of global climate change which has led to an increased frequency and severity of droughts in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. Sustainable production of citrus, thus, requires not only the efficient management of the limited water resources, but also the development of new irrigation strategies which lead to improved water use efficiency. A typical irrigation strategy with the potential for improving the water use efficiency in tree crops is the partial root zone drying (PRD) strategy

Agriculture · Agroforestry · Agronomy · Biology · Business · Cropping · Deficit irrigation · Irrigation · Irrigation management · Water conservation · Water resource management · Environmental Science · Irrigation Practices and Water Management · Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics · Tree Root and Stability Studies · Ecology