Estimation of Actual Water Requirements and Water Productivity of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cv. Barhi under the Conditions of Southern Iraq

Estimation of Actual Water Requirements and Water Productivity of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cv. Barhi under the Conditions of Southern Iraq | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Estimation of Actual Water Requirements and Water Productivity of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cv. Barhi under the Conditions of Southern Iraq Assim N. Al-Mansor, Abdulrahman D. Alhamd, Farkad M. Al-Musawi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8022331/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 16 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) struggle in arid places due to water scarcity and rising demand. Therefore, we must find more efficient ways to water them to maintain economically viable water use. Researchers in the southern portion of Basrah Governorate (Abu Al-Khasib District) employed the bubbler irrigation method to analyze water productivity under different irrigation levels and calculate Barhi date palm water requirements in 2023 and 2024. ETO was calculated using the US Class A Pan method. We then adjusted the crop coefficient (Kc) using FAO calculations to account for local climatic parameters as wind speed, relative humidity, and plant height. T1 (45%), T2 (65%), T3 (85%), and TC (100%) irrigation levels represented varied proportions of water demand. Seasonal water application rates per tree were 99, 143, 188, and 221 m³. Nine replications produced 36 experimental units using a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Daily ETo readings ranged from 2.86 to 13.33 mm/day, averaging 7.8 mm/day annually. Across all crops, ETc adj was 2955 mm/year, while Kc ranged from 0.77 to 1.15. Summer and winter watering frequency disturbances occurred at 5-day and 32-day intervals. Analysis of variance among irrigation settings revealed significant differences in water productivity and agricultural output. Treatment 1 had the highest water productivity (0.77 kg/m³), followed by T3, T2, and TC (0.59, 0.54, and 0.50 kg/m³). T3 and TC yielded the most at 110 and 111 kg/tree, respectively, with no difference. According to research, increasing irrigation water did not increase productivity correspondingly but did diminish water efficiency. Date palms in water-scarce areas can be irrigated at 45% of the total need (T1) without a yield drop, indicating that this strategy is practicable. Date palm Water requirements Evapotranspiration Crop coefficient (Kc) Water productivity (CWP) Deficit irrigation and Bubbler irrigation system Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 02 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 23 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 22 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 17 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 11 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Nov, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Nov, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 07 Nov, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 07 Nov, 2025 First submitted to journal 03 Nov, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8022331","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":546656669,"identity":"c2cbbb03-3c8a-4518-9e4a-7a84ae76853c","order_by":0,"name":"Assim N. 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Therefore, we must find more efficient ways to water them to maintain economically viable water use. Researchers in the southern portion of Basrah Governorate (Abu Al-Khasib District) employed the bubbler irrigation method to analyze water productivity under different irrigation levels and calculate Barhi date palm water requirements in 2023 and 2024. ETO was calculated using the US Class A Pan method. We then adjusted the crop coefficient (Kc) using FAO calculations to account for local climatic parameters as wind speed, relative humidity, and plant height. T1 (45%), T2 (65%), T3 (85%), and TC (100%) irrigation levels represented varied proportions of water demand. Seasonal water application rates per tree were 99, 143, 188, and 221 m\u0026sup3;. Nine replications produced 36 experimental units using a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Daily ETo readings ranged from 2.86 to 13.33 mm/day, averaging 7.8 mm/day annually. 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