This technique supplies water directly to the root zone of plants through drip pipes buried underground, helping to increase the ability to infiltrate and store water in the soil, especially in the root zone. Diffusers are usually installed 30-50cm deep before planting or can be placed on the ground, right at the edge of the canopy if installed after the tree is mature. Watering at the edge of the canopy helps water penetrate the root zone more effectively because the roots tend to spread outward rather than being concentrated near the base of the tree.

A study by a group of authors from Tien Giang University applied this irrigation technique to a 20-year-old Dona durian garden in Cai Lay district, Tien Giang province, to adapt to the saline intrusion situation. In the experiment, the diffuse drip irrigation garden used 64-96 liters of water/tree/day, while the control garden used 120 liters of water/tree/day with a sprinkler irrigation system. Each tree in the model was equipped with four diffuse irrigation units, allowing the supply of 4 liters of water every 15 minutes. The results showed that the soil moisture between the two gardens did not differ significantly, fluctuating between 70-80%.

Although using less water, however, the trees in the garden applying diffuse drip irrigation had slower growth in the number of young shoots and shoot length, but the leaf size was larger than the control garden. In terms of yield, the total number of fruits per tree in the model garden reached 24.8 fruits/tree, with a yield of 98.61 kg/tree, surpassing the control (16.05 fruits/tree and yield of 61.23 kg/tree). From these results, the research team proposed a solution combining a water storage system and diffuse drip irrigation at a rate of 96 liters/tree/day to adapt to the saline intrusion situation. They also recommended integrating this irrigation system with the existing sprinkler irrigation system at households to ensure sustainability in agricultural production. The study was published in the Journal of Science and Technology of Nguyen Tat Thanh University, No. 5/2024.