The Effects of Regulated Deficit Irrigation in Growth Response to <i>Büchloe dactyloides</i> (Bowie and Cody) Compared with <i>Festuca arundinacea</i>

Abstract

Now days, turf management has encountered with water deficit, mostly due to low precipitation also industrial, agricultural and household demand and consumption. So, the objective of this project was to identify drought tolerance of warm and cool season turfgrass cultivars to different levels of regulated-deficit irrigation. The field experiment was set out in a split-plot based on completely randomized experimental design with three replications at the experimental farm of the Department of Horticultural Science‚ Agricultural College‚ Ferdowsi University of Mashhad‚ Mashhad‚ Iran. Water treatments (40‚ 70‚ 100 percentages of regulated deficit irrigation) (RDI) were considered as main plot and turf grass types as subplots. Irrigation value was according to daily reference of evapotranspiration (ETO). In all measured traits, Bowie and Cody genotypes of buffalograss showed better response as compare to fescue genotype. There was significant difference in turf quality traits of turfgrass (such as color, texture and quality after clipping) dealt with different level of drought stress. Cody has shown the lowest quality for color index. Whereas, the finer leaves have recorded in Cody and Bowie, but not significantly to each other. However tall fescue represented the rough leaves among others. Boffalograss cultivars preserved more relative water content (RWC) in contrast to that of fescue. Results suggested that buffalograss cultivars likely can cope with severe drought stress so as to maintain its morphological quality and also is able to justify its physiological traits under severe water stress. The research results indicated that buffalograss cultivars need lower levels of irrigation compare to tall fescue.