The Irrigation Effectiveness of Chernozems

Abstract

In the area of Chernozems in Bulgaria, covering part of the Danubian Plain, rainfall as the main components of the irrigation regime of crops have an annual average water demand under the crop during the growing season, indicating that irrigation is the one of the main prerequisites for achieving sustainable agricultural production.
Getting a good effect of irrigation and most productive use of irrigation water is only possible when applying the proper (optimal) irrigation regime in compliance with the requirements of the crops.
From the conducted experience in years of with varying meteorological characteristics and the three main types of Chernozems – Typical, Carbonate and Leaching, it was found that the average increase in yield of some main irrigated crops (corn, soybeans, apples and grapes) under irrigation compared with rain fed is a 21 to 45% in the Typical and Carbonate Chernozems and from 51 to 70% in Leaching Chernozems due to high humus content and good water and physical properties of leaching that determine its water retention capacity.
The highest effect of irrigation expressed through the additional net income in lev/ha for all four quoted crops is obtained from apples.