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recorded in drip irrigation at 60% Ecp with plastic mulch followed by drip irrigation
at 80% Ecp with plastic mulch. The higher yield in case of drip irrigation with plastic
mulch was probably due to optimum evapotranspiration demand met at critical growth
stages under this system, a prerequisite for dry matter accumulation and its partition-
ing within the plant. Increase in yield under drip at optimum irrigation level with plas-
tic mulch has been well advocated by Lal et al. [6] in Kinnow mandarin.
TABLE 4
Fruit yield, quality and water use efficiency (WUE) affected under various irrigation
treatments in Nagpur mandarin (Mean data during 2006-2009).
Yield parameters
Water
applied
(mm)
Water use
efficiency
(kg/
plant/
mm)
Quality parameters
No. of
fruits/
plant
Average
fruit
weight
(g)
Total
yield
(kg/
plant)
Juice
(%)
Acid-
ity
(%)
T.S.S
(
0
Brix)
Treatment
*
DI at 40%
Ecp
+ PM
65
142.7
9.2
272
0.033
36.56
0.83
9.75
DI at 60%
Ecp
+ PM
98
153.3
15.0
408
0.036
39.83
0.78
10.50
DI at 80%
Ecp
+ PM
74
149.6
11.0
544
0.020
37.68
0.84
10.00
DI at 100%
Ecp + PM
59
143.9
10.5
680
0.015
36.89
0.86
9.70
Basin ir-
rigation
63
142.5
9.0
635
0.014
36.47
0.85
9.88
#
LSD
0.05
3.2
12.4
0.12
—
0.51
NS
NS
*
DI
= Drip Irrigation; PM = Plastic mulch.
#
LSD
0.05
= Least significant difference at 5% probability level; NS: Not significant
The estimation of water use effi ciency (WUE) under different irrigation treatments
indicates that all the drip irrigation regimes with plastic mulch had signifi cantly higher
WUE (0.015-0.036 kg/plant/mm) with maximum magnitude in drip at 60% Ecp with
plastic mulch, over basin irrigation method (0.014 kg/plant/mm). The higher WUE
under drip with plastic mulch was attributed to higher increase in fruit yield with com-
paratively less increase in irrigation water consumption over other treatments. Quality
assessment of fruits showed that a signifi cantly higher juice content (39.83%) was
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