The Influence of Supplemental Irrigation on Soil Water, Fig Yield and Fig Growers’ Income under Drought Conditions in Rainfed Fig Orchards

Introduction Iran is the fourth world producer of figs with an average of 75,833 tons from 1993 to 2013 (FAO, 2016). Estahban area provides about 90% of dried fig in Iran (Jafari, Abdolahipour-Haghighi and Zare, 2012). The rainfed fig orchards in this area have been extremely affected by severe drought in recent years, leading to 10% to 80% reduction in fig trees and fruit in 2010, respectively (Jafari, Abdolahipour-Haghighi and Zare, 2012). For this reason, the tendency to apply supplemental irrigation in Estahban fig orchards has increased in previous years. However, the lack of information about the amount, timing, and application position of supplemental irrigation to achieve efficient use of water in this area makes it difficult to deal with this issue in the study area. The main objective of this study was, thus, to investigate the effect of different amounts and times of supplemental irrigation at different distances from tree trunk on soil water variation, quantity of fruits, and fig growers’ income under drought conditions.