CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus L.) YIELD RESPONSE TO PLASTIC MULCH, IRRIGATION METHODS AND LEVELS 2906
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Date
2019-05
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JAU, JUNAGADH
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted in order to study the cucumber (Cucumis
sativus L.) yield response to plastic mulch, irrigation methods and levels during summer
2018 at the farm of Renewable Energy Engineering Department, Junagadh. The effect
of three irrigation levels viz.; 1.0 ETc (I1), 0.8 ETc (I2) and 0.6 ETc (I3) in combination
with four cultivation practices; silver black plastic mulch (M1), no mulch (M2), flat bed
with drip irrigation (M3) and border irrigation (M4) were studied on crop growth and
yield response. The experiment was laid out in large plot technique taking twelve
treatment combinations replicated thrice with irrigation levels as the main plot factor
and cultivation practices as the subplot factor. The influence of these factors on summer
cucumber was analysed in terms of weed intensity, dry weight of weed per m2
, no. of
days for germination, germination percentage, vine length, no. of nodes per plant, no.
of fruits per plant, weight of fruits per plant, dimensions of fruit (length and diameter),
crop yield per hectare, water use efficiency, water footprint and economics.
Results revealed that irrigation levels and cultivation practices significantly
influenced weed intensity, dry weight of weed, vine length, no. of nodes per plant, no.
of fruits per plant, fruit diameter and yield per hectare. The effect of irrigation levels
and cultivation practices on germination days, germination percentage and fruit length
were found non-significant. Weed intensity and dry weight of weed were recorded
lowest in 0.6 ETc with silver black plastic mulch. The treatment combination of 0.8 ETc
with silver black plastic mulch resulted in maximum vine length (195.33 cm), nodes
per plant (59.33 nos), fruits per plant (26.33 nos), weight of fruits per plant (286.93 g),
length of fruit (326.70 mm), diameter of fruit (46.67 mm), crop yield (22543.33 kg/ha),
water use efficiency (78.62 kg/ha-mm), benefit cost ratio (3.55) and minimum water
footprint (127.19 l/kg). Overall it could be concluded that 0.8 ETc irrigation level along
with silver black plastic mulch was found most economical and obtained highest crop
yield of summer cucumber with best water use efficiency.