Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Tarim Bilimleri Dergisi, cilt.31, sa.4, ss.892-903, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
In recent years, the use of mulch in drip-irrigated strawberry cultivation has increased. Since there is no water loss through evaporation on the soil surface in mulch application, its use with drip irrigation method is seen as an important opportunity for the efficient use of water resources. This study aimed to determine the irrigation level that enhances water savings using the HYDRUS-2D model, based on irrigation scheduling previously implemented under real conditions. The field study was conducted in Adana during the 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 growing seasons. Irrigation applications were based on a three-day evaporation from a Class A pan, with the full irrigation treatment (R100) calculated accordingly. Different irrigation levels were obtained by multiplying this duration by 0.75 (R75) and 0.50 (R50). During the first-year calibration phase, soil properties, measured irrigation water amount, and transpiration values were defined as inputs to the model for R100, and volumetric water content was estimated for 0-30 cm soil depth. The measured and predicted water contents for R100 were compared and soil shape parameters were determined according to statistical parameters. In the second-year validation phase, treatment-specific transpiration and irrigation amounts were input into the model, and simulations were generated using shape parameters determined in the calibration. Then, the measured and estimated water content at 0-30 cm depth were compared. In the calibration phase, R², RMSE, and MAE were 0.94, 0.06, and 0.05 cm³ cm-³, respectively. In the validation phase, these values ranged from 0.75 to 0.92, 0.01 to 0.05 cm³ cm-³, and 0.01 to 0.05 cm³ cm-³, respectively. The results indicate that the HYDRUS-2D model can predict soil water content with high accuracy in drip irrigation under mulch application in strawberry cultivation. Among the evaluated scenarios, an irrigation level of 0.70 times the full irrigation duration based on 3-day evaporation is recommended for future studies.