Standardization of stage wise water requirement in drip irrigated Kinnow mandarin orchards under sub-tropical conditions

Abstract

An experiment on drip irrigation scheduling based on pan evaporation replenishment was conducted in Kinnow orchard at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during 2010-2018. Year was divided into six stages (stage 1 to stage VI) including two months in each stage. First treatment included irrigation scheduling with 30 and 40% ER, treatment two with 40 and 60% ER, treatment three with 60 and 80% ER, alternatively during stages I to VI. However, fourth and fifth treatments had irrigation with 80% ER and 30% ER, respectively, in all the stages. Maximum daily open pan evaporation (9.15 mm) was recorded in May and minimum (1.19 mm) was recorded in January. The water requirement varied from 2.8 liters day-1 tree-1 in stage-I to 58.3 liters day-1 tree-1 in stage-III. Linear increase in vegetative and reproductive growth was observed with increase in irrigation water. Polynomial relationship studies indicated the increase in water quantity applied to Kinnow with increase in temperature subject to the prevailing relative humidity. Similarly, volumes of water applied increased with increased mean evaporation. The study concluded that drip irrigation scheduling with 60 to 80% ER alternatively, starting from January to December save significant amount of water, without affecting yield and quality of Kinnow under subtropical conditions.