EFFECTS OF DEFICIT IRRIGATION ON THE COMPOSITION OF BY-PRODUCTS OF CAMELINA SATIVA: TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE WATER USE IN SEMI-ARID AGRICULTURE

Abstract

Modern agriculture prioritizes sustainable practices by integrating new, less input-intensive species, coupled with water-saving strategies. Camelina sativa, an emerging versatile crop, holds promise due to these qualities. An experiment was conducted during the 2021-2022 season at the Agro Veterinary Institute of the University of Batna in Algeria to study the behavior of this crop under deficit irrigation. Four irrigation treatments were tested, repeated four times: rainfed regime (T0), 100 % of crop evapotranspiration ETc (T1), 75 % of ETc (T2), and 35 % of ETc (T3). The measurements focused on the chemical composition, enzymatic digestibility, and energy values of camelina straw and oilcakes, as well as the water productivity in forage units. The results indicate that the treatments significantly affect the chemical composition of the straw, but not the enzymatic digestibility or energy values, which remained close to 0.14 Feed Value Unit (FEU) for all treatments. However, all studied parameters of the oilcakes were significantly affected by the irrigation regimes, with regime T2 showing an organic matter digestibility of 70.36 % and 0.74 FEU of energy, lower than T1 which stood out for its maximum values of 72.16 % and 0.77 FEU respectively. Moreover, the irrigation water productivity in forage units revealed impressive values for T2, both for straw and oilcakes, exceeding T1 by 18 % and 4.68 % respectively, while allowing a water saving of 25 % and a slight reduction in yield in Kg Dry Mater (DM) ha-1 of 12.07 % and 11.13 % respectively. The combination of camelina with deficit irrigation represents a sustainable agricultural strategy that enables the reconciliation of irrigation efficiency, sustainability, and economic profitability in a context where there is an urgent need to strike a balance between water availability, agricultural yields, and the quest for reliable alternative solutions for animal feed in semi-arid regions.