Growth, earliness and fruit yield of micro-irrigated strawberry as affected by planting time and mulching in semi-arid regions

An experiment was conducted to determine the optimum planting time and suitable mulching material for higher productivity of micro-irrigated strawberry in the semi-arid region of north Indian plains. Three planting times viz., mid-September, mid-October and mid-November as main factor and three mulches viz., black polyethylene (50 micron), clear polyethylene (50 micron) and paddy straw (10 cm thickness) were tried in a split plot design with three replications. Mid-September planting time enhanced plant growth, early flowering (77.3 days) and fruiting (33.0 days), which resulted in production of significantly heavier fruit (13.0 g), early yield (1489 g/m²) and total fruit yield (2,791 g/m²) than other planting time. Similarly, plants mulched with black polyethylene have significantly better growth, early flowering (80.2 days) and fruiting (29.2 days) and larger fruits (12.8 g) than either with clear polyethylene or paddy straw. Further, fruit yield of strawberry was significantly higher in plants mulched with black polyethylene (2758 g/m²), which was 24.2 and 17.8 percent higher as compared to plants mulched with clear polyethylene and paddy straw, respectively. These studies indicated that micro irrigated strawberry could be planted in mid-September with black polyethylene mulch under semi-arid regions of India for early and higher fruit yield for getting good market price.