Effect of Water Stress on Yield and Canopy Cover Temperature and Determination of CWSI for Summer Savory(Satureja hortensis)

Considering the great value of water, irrigation scheduling, and cultivation of medicinal plants, this research was conducted at the Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, with the aim of scheduling irrigation of summer savory using CWSI and applying different levels of water stress under the condition of pot planting. In this research, seeds of summer savory were cultivated  with three replications under four irrigation treatments of 100%, 80%, 60%, and 40% of readily available water (RAW) (IR100, IR80, IR60 and IR40). Irrigation of the control treatment (IR100) was carried out when all the soil RAW was depleted. Irrigation of the other three treatments was carried out at the same time but with, respectively, 80%, 60%, and 40 percent of the volume applied to IR100.  The canopy cover temperature in IR100 and air temperature (dry and wet) were measured on the day after (8-14 o’clock) and before irrigation (12-15 o’clock) in order to construct the lower and upper limits base lines required to calculate CWSI. According to the result, the upper base line equation is (𝑇𝑐-𝑇𝑎) UL = 0.69, and the lower base line is (𝑇𝑐-𝑇𝑎) LL = 0.2787 - 0.1134 (VPD). Result showed that the effect of water stress on yield was significant. The highest yield was observed in IR100 (1.756 g / plant) and the lowest yield was observed in IR40 (1.421 g / plant). The crop water stress index (CWSI) of the four treatments in the day before irrigation was 0.19, 0.21, 0.28, and 0.46, respectively. According to this information, the permissible CWSI index for irrigation scheduling of summer savory growing in pots was 0.19. The result of means comparison indicated that differences between IR100 and IR80 in values of CWSI and canopy cover temperature were not significant, but they were significant between IR100, IR60 and IR40.  The increment of CWSI in IR80, IR60 and IR40 were 10%, 47%, and 142 percent relative to the IR100. In this research, a strong correlation (r= -0.978*) was obtained between CWSI and stomatal conductance.