Abstract

 An experiment on drip irrigation scheduling based on pan evaporation replenishment was conducted in Kinnow orchard at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during 2010-2018. Year was divided into six stages (stage 1 to stage VI) including two months in each stage. First treatment included irrigation scheduling with 30 and 40% ER, treatment two with 40 and 60% ER, treatment three with 60 and 80% ER, alternatively during stages I to VI. However, fourth and fifth treatments had irrigation with 80% ER and 30% ER, respectively, in all the stages. Maximum daily open pan evaporation (9.15 mm) was recorded in May and minimum (1.19 mm) was recorded in January. The water requirement varied from 2.8 liters day-1 tree-1 in stage-I to 58.3 liters day-1 tree-1 in stage-III. Linear increase in vegetative and reproductive growth was observed with increase in irrigation water. Polynomial relationship studies indicated the increase in water quantity applied to Kinnow with increase in temperature subject to the prevailing relative humidity. Similarly, volumes of water applied increased with increased mean evaporation. The study concluded that drip irrigation scheduling with 60 to 80% ER alternatively, starting from January to December save significant amount of water, without affecting yield and quality of Kinnow under subtropical conditions.
Highlights
Kinnow mandarin is an important commercially grown citrus crop in Punjab
It had been observed that water requirement increased from stage-I to stage-II due to rise in temperature and longer daylengths
Relationship between weekly mean evaporation and the volume of water applied. These results suggest that volume of irrigation water applied to Kinnow mandarins increased with increased weekly mean evaporation (Fig. 4)
Summary
Kinnow mandarin is an important commercially grown citrus crop in Punjab. Evaporation-based irrigation scheduling is more efficient system of water saving It has been reported in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) that water requirement by the surface irrigation methods estimated on crop evapotransipiration is even more than water requirement by drip irrigation (Gorantiwar et al, 2011). Irrigation scheduling at less than 80 per cent of evaporation replenishment (ER) during the all plant growth developmental stages affected the yield and fruit quality in Nagpur mandarin (Shirgure et al, 2014). The saturated area of soil surface should be reduced to 50 to 60 per cent to diminish soil evaporation and to curtail tree transpiration under full grown tree Several research reports documented the advantages of optimum irrigation water supply at various flowering and fruit developmental phases in different citrus crops (PérezPérez et al, 2008; Gasque et al, 2010; García-Tejero et al, 2010)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
