Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Online published on 4 January, 2012.
Field studies were conducted to observe the effect of mulch and drip irrigation on quality of potato (Solatium tuberosum L.). The different types of mulch were plastic, biodegradable and organic. The different drip irrigation levels were low (LDI), medium (MDI) and high (HDI) with 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 IW/CPE ratio respectively and conventional irrigation. Plastic mulch increased the minimum soil temperature by 2–3°C and brought it to an optimum range (10–12°C) required for better crop growth, which helped in improving quality of crop. The average yield of all the three mulch treatments under drip irrigation was 28.6 per cent higher than the no mulch drip irrigation treatment. The highest yield of 312.3 q/ha was obtained under HDI treatment (averaged over all mulches) against a yield of 238.7 q/ha obtained for the conventionally irrigated mulched treatment, registering an increase of 30.8 per cent. Mulch also helped in improving the processing quality of the crop.
Drip irrigation, Mulch, Reducing sugars
