The Evaluation of the Impact of Different Drip Irrigation Systems on the Vegetative Growth and Fruitfulness of ‘Gala’ Apple Trees

The consequences of a changing climate in Central Europe are changes in precipitation patterns and the number of rainfall days per year, an increase in the dry summer months, and, most importantly, a reduction in the availability of water resources for orchard production. This study presents a novel evaluation of irrigation systems in commercial apple orchards, highlighting how their installation can improve water use efficiency and orchard productivity. The following systems were used in the experiments: IR+F-A (drip line placed on a wire mesh), IR+F-B (two drip lines placed on both sides of an auxiliary structure), and IR+F-C (two drip lines placed below the soil surface). Among these, the IR+F-C system achieved the best performance, prolonging annual shoot growth by 10.5%, increasing fruit weight by up to 8.5%, and enhancing the proportion of Extra Class fruits by 29%, and yielding 6–10% more per hectare than the other irrigation treatments. These quantitative findings emphasize the novelty of subsurface drip irrigation under Central European conditions and demonstrate its potential to improve water use efficiency and fruit quality, offering a viable strategy for adapting orchard management to climate change.