open access

Submitted: 2025-03-12
Crop Production and Environment
Published: 2025-04-04

Productivity of Chia crop in the sandy soils of East Delta, Egypt

Water Requirement and Field Irrigation Research Department; Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute; Agricultural Research Center, Egypt
Water Requirement and Field Irrigation Research Department; Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute; Agricultural Research Center, Egypt

Abstract

Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) crop is a newly introduced herbaceous plant to the Egyptian cropping system. No information is available on water requirements of chia crop under Egyptian conditions. A field experiment was conducted to determine the effect of irrigation treatments (IFarmer, IGrowth-stage, I120%ETo, I100%ETo, I80%ETo, and I60%ETo) on chia seed yield, plant height, total carbohydrates, total protein, total oil content,  seed's nutrients, applied irrigation water (AIW), water productivity (WP), and yield response factor (Ky). Results showed significant effect of the irrigation treatments on all tested parameters. Average AIW values for the respective treatments were 8036 m3/ha, 7492 m3/ha, 6081 m3/ha, 5228 m3/ha, 4376 m3/ha and 3523 m3/ha. The highest average seed yield of 3.15 t/ha was recorded for I120%ETo treatment, while the lowest value of 2.00 t/ha was recorded for the I60%ETo treatment. The highest WP of 0.598 kg/m3 was recorded for I80%ETo. The Ky value of 0.78 was obtained. Therefore, applying appropriate agronomic management (e.g. proper amounts of irrigation water, and fertilizers through drip-fertigation technique) can achieve high chia seed yields. In case of water shortage, applying appropriate agricultural practices and I80%ETo can save 46% (3660 m3/ha) of AIW without significant reduction in seed yield.

Keywords: Chia, Applied irrigation water, water productivity, yield response factor, carbohydrates, protein, oil content, Egypt