Impact of Micro Irrigation on the Growth and Yield of Tomatoes in Sandy Loam Soil

A study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of drip emitters and micro sprinklers under field conditions for cultivating tomatoes, with a focus on improving irrigation efficiency and minimizing field losses. The investigation involved assessing moisture distribution patterns for both micro-irrigation techniques. The data on moisture content before and after irrigation were scrutinized, and soil moisture contour maps for the longitudinal cross-section were created using the “Surfer” software. Results indicated that the drip system displayed a uniformity coefficient of 89.25% at 1.2 kg/cm², while the micro sprinkler system exhibited uniformity coefficients of 89.80% and 88.50% at 25cm and 50cm heights from the ground, respectively. The coefficient of manufacturing variation was low (0.048) in the drip irrigation system at 1.20 kg/cm². Regarding crop response, notable enhancements in growth parameters and tomato yield were observed under micro sprinkler irrigation compared to both drip and control treatments. The micro sprinkler treatment yielded the highest production at 54.3 t/ha, surpassing the drip (53.6 t/ha) and control (40 t/ha) treatments. Drip irrigation demonstrated the highest water use efficiency (245 kg/ha/ mm), utilizing the least amount of water, including effective rainfall (350 mm). The benefit-cost (B-C) ratio increased for the micro sprinkler treatment (3.56) compared to drip (3.37) and control (3.07) treatments, indicating superior economic performance. In summary, the micro sprinkler treatment outperformed the drip plots in terms of yield and cost-effectiveness, despite the drip treatment exhibiting higher water use efficiency.