The effect of four under tree micro-jet irrigation (180-3000) systems on fruit yield and quality of Nagpur mandarin in Central India

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted for evaluation of the different degree under tree automatic micro-jet irrigation systems on yield, quality and productivity of Nagpur mandarin on 12-15 years old bearing Nagpur mandarin (on Rough lemon) at National Research Centre for Citrus, Nagpur during 2008-2011. Four treatments viz. Irrigation with 180 0 Fan type micro-jet (2/plant), (M 1 ); Irrigation with 180 0 Ray type micro-jet (2/plant) (M 2 ); Irrigation with 270 0 Ray type micro-jet (2/plant) (M 3 ) and Irrigation with 300 0 Ray type micro-jet (2/plant) (M 4 ) were evaluated with six replications in Randomized Block Design. The quantity of water applied using automatic controller in micro-jet irrigation systems varied from 70.5 to 142.1 litres/day/plant and 82.3 to 134.4 litres/day/plant during 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively. The soil moisture distribution was observed higher and uniform under irrigation with 180 0 Fan type micro-jet (2/plant) followed by irrigation with 180 0 Ray type micro-jet (2/plant). The highest average increase in canopy volume was recorded in micro-jet 180 0 Fanjet (93.68 m 3 ) and micro-jet 180 0 Rayjet (90.65 m 3 ). The highest fruit yield i.e. 29.4 tonnes/ha was recorded with 180 0 Fan type micro-jet (2/plant) followed by irrigation with 300 0 micro-jet (2/plant)(26.2 tonnes/ha), where as the lowest yield was observed in irrigation with 180 0 Rayjet type micro-jet (2/plant) irrigation system (21.9 tonnes/ha). The fruit quality analysis revealed that total soluble solids was highest (9.47 o Brix) with 300 0 Ray type micro-jet followed by irrigation with 180 0 Fan type micro-jet treatment (9.0 o Brix). The highest juice content (39.4 %) was found with 180 0 Ray type micro-jet irrigation as compared to irrigation with 180 0 Fan type micro-jet. The TSS to acidity ratio was highest with 300 0 Rayjet type micro-jet irrigation system.