1Center for Smart Agriculture, Centurion University Technology and Management, Odisha, India
2Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India
*Corresponding author: sagar.maitra@cutm.ac.in
Online published on 7 September, 2022.
A field trial was conducted on the lateritic sandy loam soils of Kharagpur, West Bengal, India, during 2017-2020 to access the efficacy of different drip irrigation levels with and without plastic mulch on growth and yield of cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.). Three levels of irrigation water applied through the drip, ring basin irrigation method combined with plastic mulch experimented with three replications on cashew plants. Reference evapotranspiration was estimated using the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith approach. The cashew crop water requirement was calculated using reference evapotranspiration data and crop co-efficient for different crop growth stages. The irrigation water was applied at 60%, 80%, and 100% of the crop water requirement. Irrigation intervals were at 2 and 5 days respectively in drip and ring basin irrigation treatments. The water requirement of the Cashew crop varies between 15.4 L (1.2 mm) per day per plant in the winter season and 39.1 L (3.1 mm) per day per plant in the summer season for 100% water requirement treatment at the peak growth stage. Among the different irrigation levels tested, application of 100 % volume of water through drip irrigation with plastic mulch at (VDM) recorded maximum height (4.22 m), girth (56.55 cm), canopy (4.95 m), number of Primary branches (3.67), secondary branches (13.67) and yield (1.23 t ha-1) comparing to all other treatments.
Estimatition of crop water requirement of Cashew under drip and plastic mulch.
Performance of three year old cashew under different irrigation levels.
Cashew, Drip irrigation, Plastic mulch, Crop water requirement
