Studies on influence of emitter discharge rate, irrigation supplies and planting pattern on tomato in heavy soils of Central India

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted during two post rainy seasons at J.N. Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Jabalpur, India, to evaluate the effect of emitter discharge rate, drip irrigation supplies and planting pattern on soil moisture distribution patterns and yield of tomato in heavy soils. In the experiments during 1998, irrigation was applied through emitters (2, 4 lhr-1) and micro-tubes (6 lhr-1) to conventional and paired-row plantings of tomato (var. ACC - 99). While, in the experiments during 2000, four irrigation supply levels (0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2 times crop evapo-transpiration) combined with paired-row, four-row plantings of tomato (var. Pusa ruby) were applied. Observations revealed that fulfillment of 100 per cent of tomato crop evapo-transpiration need utilizing microirrigation (micro-tubes of rated discharge - 6 lhr-1) combined with four-row plantings of tomato achieved a cost saving of 35.21 per cent on initial investment with significant gain in yield over paired-row planting in the heavy soils of central India.