Sustainable Water Management using Soil Mulching and Drip Irrigation Strategies for Faba Bean Production

Pibars, Sabreen Khalil; MANSOUR, Hani; Koheal, Hany Kamal; Imam, Hisham Mohamed

doi:10.21608/agro.2025.403765.1762

Sustainable Water Management using Soil Mulching and Drip Irrigation Strategies for Faba Bean Production

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Water relations and field irrigation department, agricultural and biological research institute, national research centre

² National Research Centre, Agricultural and Biological Research Institute, Water Relations and Field Irrigation Department, Cairo, Egypt

³ National Research Centre, Water Relations and Field Irrigation Department

⁴ Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AEnRI) - Agricultural Research Center

10.21608/agro.2025.403765.1762

Abstract

Water stress has emerged as a critical global concern over the past decade, posing a significant threat to food security in arid and semi-arid regions particularly across the Middle East. . This research assesses the possible alleviation of water scarcity by soil mulching and drip irrigation system . Objective of this research was to compare different mulching techniques and investigated the combined effect of irrigation levels under drip irrigation system . A factorial combination of three levels of water (namely 100%, 80% and 60% ETc) combined with three mulch treatments (without Mulch(WM), Straw Mulch (SM) and Plastic Mulch (PM)) with three replications.The findings clearly demonstrate that both irrigation regimes and mulch treatments significantly affect the seed yield, straw yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) of faba bean. The combination of moderate irrigation (IR2) and straw mulch (SM) consistently gave the highest values for seed yield (2.875 ton/Fed), straw yield (5.318 ton/Fed), and WUE (2.771 kg/m³). This highlights the importance of maintaining an optimal soil moisture level while conserving water, which is effectively achieved through organic mulching. The positive effects are attributed to improved moisture retention, moderated soil temperature, and enhanced physiological activity under reduced water stress.

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