Integrated irrigation and drainage management for citrus orchards in Vertisol

Abstract

Efficient irrigation and drainage are a prerequisite for sustainable citriculture. Citriculture in vertisols often faces the twin prob-lem of waterlogging in the rainy season and water shortage during the post-rainy period, leading to suboptimal productivity anddecline of citrus orchards in central India. With this in mind, the integrated impact of irrigation methods (drip and basin) andsurface drainage (parallel trenches) was studied in citrus orchards of the region. Drip irrigation (DI) produced 23% higher fruityield than basin irrigation (BI) under drainage. Drainage was an important consideration for both DI and BI. However, drain-age was much more important for BI than DI to achieve higher fruit yield. Conjunctive use of DI and drainage (DID) reducedthe soil and nutrient losses through runoff and produced 90% higher yield with better quality fruit, using 30% less irrigationwater (171% improvement in irrigation water use efficiency) than BI without drainage. Citrus production with DIDwas alsofound to be economically superior to other treatments, generating more net return (INR 225 000 ha 1yr 1)1with higherbenefit–cost ratio (5.2). Overall, the study demonstrates that adoption of DIDcould be a viable option for commercial citricul-ture on clay soil in water-scarce central India. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd