EFFECT OF IRRIGATION FREQUENCY AND QUANTITY ON SOIL SALT DISTRIBUTION IN THE ROOT ZONE OF BHENDI UNDER DRIP IRRIGATION

R. SHARMILADEVI¹*, M.V. RANGHASWAMI², V. RAJENDRAN^3
1Department of Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tiruchirappalli, 621712, India
²Department of Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tiruchirappalli, 621712, India
³Department of Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tiruchirappalli, 621712, India
* Corresponding Author : devi.sharmila@gmail.com

Received : 14-10-2017     Accepted : 17-10-2017     Published : 18-10-2017
Volume : 9     Issue : 47       Pages : 4787 - 4791
Int J Agr Sci 9.47 (2017):4787-4791

Keywords : Drip irrigation, Saline water, Root zone, Soil Salt Distribution, Bhendi
Academic Editor : Sharmila S
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors are thankful to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641003 for the support provided for conducting field experiments
Author Contribution : All author equally contributed

A field experiment was conducted to assess the salt distribution under drip irrigation by varying frequency of irrigation and amount of water supply. The experiment was laid out in strip plot design with three replications. Four irrigation frequencies and three irrigation quantities were adopted. The low value of Coefficient of variation (0.0395), the Christiansen uniformity of 96.85 per cent and the statistical uniformity of 96.05 per cent obtained for the discharge values recorded at various emitter positions revealed that the entire field was supplied with uniform distribution of water. The salt distribution was observed by analyzing the pH and EC values of the soil samples collected from number of points around the emitter positions. The soil reaction (pH) values of the treatment twice a day irrigation with 140 per cent crop water need (CWN) shown higher value of pH (8.5) found to be with low salinity environment than the pH value of 8.28 obtained in the treatment once in three days irrigation with 100 per cent CWN irrigation treatment. The lower EC value of 0.44 dS m-1 was recorded in the treatment twice day irrigation with 140 per cent CWN. In this treatment the effect of frequency of irrigation and application of excess water leached the salts beyond root zone depth. The higher EC value of 0.71 dS m-1 recorded once in three days with 100 per cent CWN treatment shown the progressive accumulation of salts in the root zone. The highest yield of bhendi (12.07 t ha-1) was recorded in the treatment twice a day irrigation with 140 percent CWN which recorded lower salt accumulation. Maximum water use efficiency of 448.61 kg ha-1 cm-1 was observed in this treatment. The higher benefit cost of 2.05 was recorded in the treatment twice a day irrigation with 140 percent CWN. Drip irrigation twice a day with 140 per cent CWN was found to be the best combination of frequency and quantity of irrigation by maintaining less salt accumulation in the root zone.

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