The effects of water stress on yield performance of drip-irrigated pepper (Capsicum annum L. cv. Capya var. Yalova yağlık 28) in the Central Anatolian region of Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of conventional deficit irrigation strategy on yield components and water use efficiency in the red pepper. The field study was performed in Cumra, a town in the province of Konya in the years of 2012 and 2013. The irrigation treatments were applied as follows: (i) full irrigation regime (100% of water requirement for plant, I100) and (ii) two conventional deficit irrigations regime at the rate of 80% (I80) and 60% (I60) of I100 at 5-day intervals. The irrigation water was used based on soil water content measurement through the gravimetric method where evaporation was measured by a class A pan cup simultaneously. The maximum marketable yields were obtained in the treatment of I100 with 22.0 and 24.0 t ha−1 for the years of 2012 and 2013, respectively. The seasonal crop water requirement was calculated as 454, 591, and 726 mm for 2012 and as 498, 652, and 806 mm for 2013, respectively. The values of crop yield response factors (ky) at I80 and I60 were found as 1.03 and 1.37 in 2012 and 0.66 and 1.54 in 2013, respectively. The highest levels of water use efficiency (WUE) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) were determined for the treatment of 20% deficit during the period of study. The complete irrigation levels (FC) were calculated through 0.87 times the pan A evaporation. The results reveal that full irrigation strategy is the best choice to obtain maximum yield or net return while 20% deficit irrigation is a viable solution for water poor environments.