Effect of irrigation and mulching on growth and yield attributes of potato

The present field experiment was conducted on sandy loam soils during Nov, 2008 to March, 2009 to find the effect of six levels of irrigation I1 (20mm cpe) I2 (25mm cpe), I3 (30mm cpe), I4 (35mm cpe), I5 (40mm cpe), I6 (Critical stages i.e. stolon formation, tuber initiation and tuber development) under mulch and non mulch condition. The results indicated that irrigation applied at critical stages significantly recorded highest tuber yield (18.03t/ha). However irrigation applied at 25 mm CPE recorded significantly the highest yield of both B grade (25-50g) and C grade (50-75g) tubers. Both B and C grades has higher market price and mostly preferred by people than A grade and D grade size tubers. Likewise, application of mulch significantly 24.04% higher yield over non mulch condition. Besides this, mulching also significantly increased the yield of B grade and C grade tubers along with tuber numbers as compared to non mulch condition. But there was no significant increase in yield in both A grade and D grade tubers was observed due to application of irrigation and mulch.