Response of certain peanut (Arachis hypogea L.) varieties to water regime using different irrigation systems in new reclaimed areas

Abstract

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is a major crop grown on 24 million ha around the world for edible oil and food. Globally, peanut varieties with high yield potential and adaptation ability have been enhanced, developed, and approved for cultivation. The improved varieties have diverse maturity durations and have disease resistance, drought tolerance, increased oil content, and improved quality traits for food uses. Currently, the limitations of productive agricultural lands and the scarcity of available water are the critical factors contributing to the gap in food production worldwide. In this direction, a two-year-long field study was conducted during the summer seasons of 2019 and 2020 to study the ability to cultivate certain peanut varieties, including Giza 6, Giza 5, and Gregory. Three water regimes100, 80, and 60% of crop water requirement (CWR) were applied using two methods of irrigation application (drip and sprinkler) in new agricultural expansion areas located north of Cairo city. The obtained results confirmed that increasing the water deficit from 100% to 60% of CWR significantly reduced all peanut growth traits such as biomass by 14.3%, pod by 14.2%, and seed by 7.8%, but the 80% water regime recorded the highest oil content. Regarding the irrigation systems, the drip irrigation system surpassed the sprinkler system in both successive seasons in all studied variables. Giza 5 variety, along with 60% of CWR, recorded the highest water productivity for biomass and pod yields. The Giza 6 variety was the most tolerant variety based on the stress tolerance index (STI), whereas the Gregory variety was the least drought-tolerant variety.