Deficit drip irrigation scheduling for capsicum in Eastern India.

Abstract

Water scarcity is one of the major causes of low productivity of vegetables in eastern India. Deficit irrigation (DI) under drip system has been proposed as an efficient irrigation strategy in irrigated agriculture. The present study was planned with a hypothesis that drip irrigation scheduling with DI technique could save a substantial amount of water overfull irrigation (FI, 100% ETc), without affecting the yield significantly in capsicum (Capsicum annum, L.). The experiment was conducted in rabi season (December-March) of 2013-2014, with drip-irrigated capsicum at Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The crop responses to DI scheduled at 50% FI (DI50), 75% FI (DI75) throughout the crop season, was compared with that under FI. DI75 at 1.0 m lateral spacing produced marginally lower fruit yield (4.5%), with lower vegetative growth of the plants in comparison with that under FI. The heavier fruits were harvested in DI75 compared to that in FI. However, the water productivity under DI75 was observed to be 13% higher over FI. The concentration of available nutrient (N, P and K) in soil was more in fully-irrigated plots compared to that in other treatments. However, P did not show any significant (P<0.05) variation in soil under irrigation treatments. Overall, these results reveal that DI75 with drip irrigation is a potential water saving strategy producing higher water productivity in capsicum cultivation in eastern India.