1Research Associate, Dept. of SWCE, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India E-mail: viji_beag@yahoo.co.in
2Professor and Head, Dept. of SWCE, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India
3Professor, Dept. of SWCE, ADAC&RI, Trichy, India, In India
Online published on 23 January, 2017.
Field experiments were conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Bhavanisagar during 2007 and 2008 to maximize the water and fertilizer use efficiencies in Chili crop. The experiments were laid out in factorial randomized block design with nine treatments which included three irrigation levels 100, 75 and 50 per cent of PE along with three fertigation levels viz. 125, 100 and 75 per cent of recommended N and K fertigation through drip irrigation and replicated thrice. In chili, the highest yield was observed in drip irrigation at 75 per cent of PE with fertigation of 75 per cent of recommended N & K with maximum shoot length and higher number of branches during I and II crops. The highest nitrogen and potassium use efficiency were observed in drip irrigation at 75 per cent of PE with fertigation of 75 per cent of recommended N & K in both I and II crops with maximum benefit-cost ratio of 3.2 and 2.8 during I and II crops respectively.
Drip fertigation, Water use efficiency, Fertilizer use efficiency
