In the face of rapid population growth, scarce water resources, and changing climate conditions, smallholders confront significant challenges in maintaining the productivity of their agroecosystems. Traditional irrigation methods are often expensive and inefficient, limiting the potential for increasing crop yields. To address these issues, this study designed a subsurface irrigation system with ceramic emitters (SICE). SICE adjusted the discharge of emitters through the difference between the working head and soil water potential to provide a continuous water supply and maintain stable soil moisture. A four-year field study and economic analysis under two irrigation systems were conducted for wolfberry cultivation in Northwest China. Results showed that SICE created soil water content at 60 %-90 % field capacity, increased the photosynthetic rate of wolfberry leaves by 67.17 % and reduced malondialdehyde content by 13.61 % compared with surface drip irrigation (SDI). In comparison, SICE was better than SDI with the average increase in yield by 29.46 %, WUE by 9.97 % and IWUE by 31.71 % in four years. Furthermore, applying the SICE system reduced the total cost by 11.13 % while increasing the total return by 20.90 % compared with SDI. Therefore, the SICE system is an effective irrigation method that provides a suitable soil moisture environment for wolfberry cultivation of smallholders in northwest China, resulting in improved yield and reduced costs.

中文翻译：

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使用陶瓷灌水器为小农户进行地下灌溉，优化枸杞作物生产力和经济可持续性：一项为期四年的研究


面对人口快速增长、水资源稀缺和气候条件变化，小农在维持农业生态系统生产力方面面临着重大挑战。传统的灌溉方法通常昂贵且效率低下，限制了作物产量增加的潜力。为了解决这些问题，本研究设计了一种带有陶瓷灌水器的地下灌溉系统（SICE）。 SICE通过工作水头与土壤水势的差异调节灌水器的流量，提供持续供水，保持土壤湿度稳定。对西北地区两种灌溉系统下的枸杞种植进行了为期四年的田间研究和经济分析。结果表明，SICE使土壤田间持水量达到60%-90%，与地面滴灌（SDI）相比，枸杞叶的光合速率提高了67.17%，丙二醛含量降低了13.61%。相比之下，SICE优于SDI，四年内产量平均增长29.46%，WUE平均增长9.97%，IWUE平均增长31.71%。此外，应用SICE系统与SDI相比，总成本降低了11.13%，总回报提高了20.90%。因此，SICE系统是一种有效的灌溉方式，为西北地区小农枸杞种植提供了适宜的土壤水分环境，从而提高了产量，降低了成本。