Abstract
The experiment was conducted by combining two factors namely; irrigation scheduling with three levels and nutrient management with five levels. The two factors were crossed factorially; irrigation treatments were arranged in vertical strips and integrated nutrient management arranged in horizontal–strip with strip plot design replicated three times. Field soil was sampled for physical and chemical property determinations. Equal amount of irrigation water were applied before the initiation of irrigation treatments. Once the drip system was installed, irrigation was done on the basis of daily evapotranspiration (ETo) value of the previous day. Growth and canopy characteristics such as plant height, stem diameter, lateral branch length, canopy width and canopy depth were measured and canopy cover was estimated. Additionally yield and yield components at harvest were measured from sample fruits. Physiological data such as chlorophyll content, quantum yield, and Ft were assessed. Data were subjected to analysis of variance as per the design using the SAS Software. Among irrigation levels tested, highest total yield 82.14 t ha-1, was recorded from full irrigation treatment followed by 57.30 t ha-1 from 80% ETc irrigation levels and lowest total yield 49.30 t ha-1 from 60% of full irrigation depth. This finding indicated that tomato should be irrigated at full water requirement to get maximum fruit yield. From this investigation, the total fruit yield was recorded from N 185 kg ha-1 P 60 kg ha-1 combination and N 75 kg ha-1 P 50 kg ha-1 treatment combination with 67.483 and 67.31 t ha-1 respectively. Application of N 185 kg ha-1 P 60 kg ha-1 combination (grower's check) did not contribute to much yield difference but would encourage luxury consumption and environmental pollution. Thus combinations of full irrigation treatment with N 75 kg ha-1 P 50 kg ha -1 nutrient application would be recommended for verification for tomato production around Melkassa. Key words: Drip irrigation, N and P nutrient, evapotranspiration (ETo), ETc, tomato.
Highlights
Food security is a major concern in many parts of the world including East Africa, Rift Valley of Ethiopia where rainfall is unpredictable and unreliable (Tesfaye, 2008).The prospects for significant expansion of crop cultivation or irrigation area are limited (Edossa, 2014)
Among irrigation levels tested for tomato, highest total yield 82.140 t ha-1, was recorded from full irrigation treatment and followed by 57.30 t ha-1 from 80% ETc irrigation levels and lowest total yield 49.30 t ha-1 from
60% of full irrigation depth, this finding indicated that tomato crop should be irrigated at full water requirement to get maximum fruit yield
Summary
Food security is a major concern in many parts of the world including East Africa, Rift Valley of Ethiopia where rainfall is unpredictable and unreliable (Tesfaye, 2008).The prospects for significant expansion of crop cultivation or irrigation area are limited (Edossa, 2014). Existing knowledge on the effects of irrigation, nutrients and other growth factors on fruit yield of field-grown tomato is appreciable (Scholberg et al, 2000) detailed studies of crop and canopy characteristics in the CRV area appear to be lacking. Many loses encounter surface irrigation, like surface leaking conveyance canals, surface run off or deep percolation etc....from limited volumes of water compared with crop water requirements, it is economically necessary to get even more from the water. This may be done in many cases by adopting efficient irrigation methods, which can apply the scarce water more accurately; minimizing losses through different ways. The water can be used much more efficiently for supplemental irrigation for much larger areas, or for longer seasons
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