Effect of Varying Irrigation and Fertigation Levels on Soil Water Dynamics and Water Use Efficiency of Potato in Wet Temperate Zone of Himachal Pradesh

The present study was conducted at the experimental farm of Department of Soil Science, CSK HPKV, Palampur to study the effect of varying irrigation and fertigation levels on soil moisture content, relative leaf water content and water use efficiency of Potato. The experiment comprised of ten treatments, each replicated three times, including three drip irrigation levels viz., 0.4 PE, 0.6 PE and 0.8 PE, three fertigation levels viz., 50% RDF, 75% RDF and 100% RDF and Recommended Practice. Soil moisture content and relative leaf water content (RLWC) were significantly higher at irrigation level of 0.8 PE as compared to Recommended Practice. The WUE and Irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) decreased with increase in the irrigation levels whereas fertigation levels increased it. Both WUE and IWUE were significantly highest at irrigation level of 0.4 PE followed by 0.6 PE and minimum at irrigation level of 0.8 PE over recommended practice.