Science Letters

Impact of Drip and Furrow Irrigation Methods on Yield, Water Productivity and Fertilizer Use Efficiency of Sweet Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Grown under Plastic Tunnel

Muhammad Asif 1*, Malik Muhammad Akram 2, Rana Muhammad Asif 1, Muhammad Asim Rafique 1

1 District Agriculture Office, On Farm Water Management, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan

2 Project Director Office, On Farm Water Management, Agriculture House, 21-Davis Road, Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

High efficiency irrigation offers efficient use of water, labor and other resources and allows the vegetable industry to grow in future. Field studies were conducted for two consecutive years in district Toba Tek Singh to investigate the comparative water use efficiency, fertilizer use efficiency and economics of sweet peppers under drip and furrow irrigation methods. Treatments comprised of T1= irrigation with drip method + 100% fertilizer of recommended dose; T2 = irrigation with drip method + 50% fertilizer of T1; T3 = irrigation with furrow method + 100% fertilizer of recommended dose with conventional method and T4 = irrigation with furrow method + 50% fertilizer of T3. Results indicated that yield and yield components were significantly improved under drip irrigation compared to conventional irrigation method. Sweet pepper yield was increased by 60% in drip irrigation system over furrow irrigation method. The resource use efficiency analysis showed that drip irrigation exhibited 47% more relative water use efficiency, 59% higher water productivity and 54.5% more fertilizer use efficiency over furrow irrigation. Overall, drip irrigation saved up to 53.5% volume of water applied to conventional irrigation method in sweet pepper production. The net income of sweet papers was increased by 66% with less water and less fertilizer by adopting high tech drip irrigation technology. Opportunities still exist to increase sweet paper output in the study area by increasing the level of above mentioned productive resources with proper irrigation scheduling. The study also suggested that drip irrigation system has a greater scope for the production of off-season vegetables grown under plastic tunnel especially in water scarce areas of Pakistan.

Keywords Sweet peppers, drip irrigation, conventional irrigation, water productivity, fertilizer use efficiency.

Received February 02, 2016 Accepted April 18, 2016 Abstract Published April 30, 2016 Manuscript Published August 15, 2016

*Corresponding author Muhammad Asif E-mail drasifpk@gmail.com