Improving water productivity for various types of plants in different regimes of Iraq

Subsurface soil water retention technology is a modern tool to increase the yield and improved water saving. The goal of this paper is to review and gathered three selected local experimental woks carried out in different regimes of Iraq in purposes of improving the water productivity for strategy plants and some vegetables crops irrigated by utilizing different irrigation systems and installing the membrane trough. Moreover, retained rainfall water was also considered in this work. The first experimental work was conducted in open field, within Joeybeh Township, located in east of the Ramadi City, in Anbar Province, for the growing season of winter wheat 2018-2019. The second experimental work was carried out at the Hawr Rajab district within Baghdad City. The plots were inside the greenhouse cultivated with cucumber plant for the growing season 2017. Additionally, the third experimental work was located in the north of Babylon Province in Sadat Al Hindiya Township. The plots were inside the greenhouse cultivated with okra for the growing season 2017. For the whole studies, some of the experimental plots were installed with the membrane trough below the soil surface, while other plots were not. Irrigation scheduling was followed as well as the rainfall was considered for open field. Other plots were depend mainly on rainfed, while other without following irrigation schedule. At the harvest days and at the end of the growing season, the obtained results show that the economic water productivity for winter wheat was improved in plot with membrane and supplementary irrigation by 16 % and 46 % comparing with plot applying the membrane trough and without membrane and depends only on rainfed. Additionally, for cucumber plant, the water productivity was improved in plot of membrane tough and subsurface trickle irrigation by 150 % more than plot without installing the membrane and 78 % more than plot using surface trickle irrigation. Moreover, the experimental plots with membrane cultivated with okra plant gave a water productivity of 46 % and 170 % more than plots without the membrane trough and without applying scheduling irrigation, respectively. The water productivity and crop yield were improved highly in the plots of the membrane trough, using the modern techniques of irrigation systems and following irrigation schedules process and avoiding soil water stress on the plant as much as possible.