Irrigation scheduling for high value vegetable crops grown under protected cultivation in the hilly ecosystem of north-east India

Abstract

Irrigation scheduling plays a vital role in the efficient utilization of water to obtain optimum yield, particularly for high value crops grown under protected conditions. The present experiment was conducted during 2020–22 at Horticulture Experimental Farm, ICAR-Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region, Umiam, Meghalaya to standardize the irrigation scheduling (IS) (5, 7, and 10-days interval) in high-value vegetable crops [tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), capsicum (Capsicum annuum L.) and king-chilli (Capsicum chinense Jacq.)] grown under naturally ventilated low-cost polyhouse in the mid-hill conditions of Meghalaya. The results revealed a significant effect of IS on plant growth (reduction in plant height, leaf area) and yield attributes (fruit setting, fruit size, fruit weight and total yield) of the crops with an increase in level of moisture stress. The highest yield of tomato (82.7 t/ha), capsicum (40.8 t/ha) and king-chilli (11.8 t/ha) was recorded in the 5-day interval of IS and on increasing the IS interval to 7-days, the yield decreased by 28.7, 36.1 and 35.7%, respectively. Among the crops, capsicum was found to be more sensitive to water stress, followed by king-chilli and tomato. Among the crops, water productivity with respect to irrigation water was maximum in tomato (60.0 g/kg) followed by capsicum (17.2 g/kg) and king-chilli (10.0 g/kg). Among the varieties grown, Megha Tomato-3 of tomato, hybrid Mahabharat of capsicum and landrace Red Long of king-chilli were found superior for growth and yield attributes at different levels of moisture regime. The farmers of the region can get higher yield using identified varieties with irrigation at 5-days intervals.