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Topic
Introduction
Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is one of the most important crops in
India. According to National Horticulture Board, the area under guava was 0.112
million hectare with 1204 million tonnes of the production of guava in the year
1997. Guava has wide adaptability to varying condition of soil and climates. In the
Indo-Gangetic alluvial plain of West Bengal, this fruit crop has immense potential
in increasing productivity and yield sustainability. However, the limited water
resource is a constraint in increasing area under guava. Even the unscientific water
management practices coupled with the lack of proper water saving technology
can lead to the reduction in productivity and sustainability of the soil and crop.
Drip irrigation offers a great promise due to its higher water use efficiency against
lower amounts of water applied and avoiding moisture stress throughout the
growing period by providing available moisture at critical crop growth stages.
Hence, it was thought to develop appropriate schedule for irrigation with drip
method which is basically quite suitable for widely spaced horticultural crops like
guava. The present investigation was directed to finding out how much yield can
be increased by economical use of water through drip method of irrigation and
drip fertigation.
Drip-irrigation can be defined as a localised irrigation method that
slowly and frequently provides water directly to the plant root zone via emitters.
The use of drip-irrigation is rapidly increasing around the world, and this trend is
expected to continue in the foreseeable future. With increasing demands on limited
water resources and the need to minimize environmental consequences of
irrigation, drip-irrigation technology offers many advantages. Drip-irrigation
provides unique agronomic, water and energy conservation benefits that address
many of the challenges facing irrigated agriculture. Farmers and other drip-
irrigation users are continually seeking new options, such as waste-water reuse,
that will continue to provide new challenges for designers and irrigation managers.
Drip-irrigation is suitable for most agricultural crops, although it is more often
used for wide spread and high value crops such as grapes, banana, lime coconut
and other fruit crops. The required quantity of water is provided to each plant daily
at the root zone through a network of piping system. Hence, there is no loss of
water either in the conveyance or in the application. Evaporation loss from the soil
surface is also very little since water is given only to the root zone and crop
canopy provides shade to prevent evaporation. This advanced method of irrigation
could have about 40-70% of waterand crop productivity by 10-55% depending
upon agro-climatic conditions (Berad et al., 1999; Deshmukh and Sen, 2000;
Sharma and Kumar 2007). Furthermore, residential and commercial landscape
systems such as golf courses and home gardens are increasingly turning to drip-
irrigation technology.
The application of fertilizer through irrigation systems is referred to as
fertigation. Using fertigation, fertilizer can be directed towards the plant root zone
with irrigation water. A liquid fertilizer solution is injected into the irrigation
water at the desired rate. When injecting fertilizer into a properly designed micro-
irrigation system the fertilizer will be carried to the plant root zone by the
irrigation water (Robert T. Burns, 1998).
Fertigation (application of fertilizer solution with drip irrigation) has
the potential to ensure that the right combination of water and nutrient is available
at the root zone, satisfying the plants’ total and temporal requirements of these two
inputs. The right combination of water and nutrients is the key for high yield and
the quality of produce. Fertigation saves fertilizer as it permits applying fertilizer
in small quantities at a time matching with the plants’ nutrient need. Besides it is
considered ecofriendly as it avoids leaching of fertilizers (Patel and Rajput, 2003).
Till date there is little information of using drip fertigation to guava in
this part of the country. It is, therefore, required to find out the precision of drip
water along with the fertilizer in guava cultivation. With this in view, the
investigation is proposed with the following objectives:
Objectives:
The recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) per plant calculated is 200g and
will be applied in five split doses round the year. Accordingly, the estimated
amount of 80%, 100% and 120% of recommended doses of nitrogen is as below:
N1: 160 gm N/plant i.e., 352 gm urea/plant.
N2: 200 gm N/plant i.e., 440 gm urea/plant.
N3: 240 gm N/plant i.e., 528 gm urea/plant.
The nitrogen fertilizer is to be dissolved in a tank and irrigation is to be
applied fortnightly as per treatments.
Where,
V = monthly volume of water required (litres)
Ep = average monthly pan evaporation (mm/day)
Kc = crop factor
Kp = pan factor
A = area of the plot (m2)
N = number of days
Re = effective rainfall (mm)
Design of the experiment: Split plot design.
Replication number: 3.
Main plot treatments: 4. (irrigation treatments will allocate in the main plots).
Spacing: 5m X 5m.
Variety: Khaja.
The effective rainfall will be calculated by balance sheet method from the
actual rainfall received. The crop factors used for different crop stages will be
computed based on the existing relative humidity and wind velocity (Doorenbos
et. al. 1984). The pan factor value is taken as 0.8 as suggested for eastern region.
The experiment will be carried out in the three year old guava plantation
located in the Central Research Farm, Gayeshpur, under the management of
AICRP on Water Management , B.C.K.V. During the planting 2 kg wood ash,
500g bone meal and 15 kg FYM was incorporated per plant through pit.
Thereafter, a common dose of fertilizers per plant applied was 200g of nitrogen,
160g of phosphate and 260g of Potash. Phosphorus and Potassium were applied in
the form of Single Superphosphate and Muriate of Potash respectively in two
equal splits- once in January and another in August in every year.
W E
S
D1 D2 D3 S
Drippers Laterals
Main line
Overhea PUMP
d
Tank
Soil parameters:
Soil samples are to be collected from four different depths 0-15cm, 15-30cm, 30-45cm
and 45-75cm and the following soil parameters are to be determined:
I. pH.
II. Bulk density.
III. Water holding capacity.
IV. Hydraulic conductivity.
V. Mechanical analysis.
VI. Available nitrogen/nitrogen distribution in different depths.
Water parameters:
I. Rate of application.
II. Water use efficiency.
III. Moisture depletion pattern.
IV. Amount of water to be applied.
Biometric observation:
V. Plant height.
VI. Number of branches/plant.
VII. Basal girth.
VIII. Number of fruits/plant.
IX. Fruit weight.
X. Yield and quality parameters.
XI. Economic analysis.
XII. Cost-benefit ratio of different treatments.