Agriculture Reference
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one. However, the fruit yield recorded with fully irrigated plants was statistically (
P
<
0.05) at par with that under RDI
50
.
TABLE 6
Number of fruits harvested, average fruit weight, fruit yield and irrigation water
use efficiency (IWUE) of 'Kinnow' mandarin under regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and full
irrigation (FI) during 2010 and 2011.
Fruit yield parameters and irrigation water use efficiency
2010
2011
Mean
Treat-
ments
No.
fruits
tree
-1
Fruit
weight
(g
fruit
-1
)
Fruit
yield (t
ha
-1
)
IWUE
(t ha
-1
mm
-1
)
No.
fruits
tree
-1
Fruit
weight
(g
fruit
-1
)
Fruit
yield
(t
ha
-1
)
IWUE
(t ha
-1
mm
-1
)
No.
fruits
tree
-1
Fruit
weight
(g
fruit
-1
)
Fruit
yield
(t
ha
-1
)
IWUE
(t ha
-1
mm
-1
)
RDI
0
487.3
c
125.7
b
30.6
b
0.07 °C
502.1
c
129.4
b
32.5
b
0.101
c
494.7
c
127.6
b
31.6
b
0.086
c
RDI
50
703.4
b
169.5
a
59.6
a
0.092
a
726.5
b
171.7
a
62.4
a
0.135
a
715.0
b
170.6
a
61.0
a
0.114
a
FI
763.7
a
162.3
a
62.0
a
0.073
b
776.1
a
162.8
a
63.2
a
0.105
b
769.9
a
162.6
a
62.6
a
0.089
b
Data in one column followed by different letter are significantly different at
P <
0.05
,
as per separation by Duncan's
multiple range test.
RDI
0
= No irrigation at early fruit growth period (EFGP); RDI
50
= Irrigation at 50% crop evapotranspiration at EFGP.
The IWUE decreased with increase in irrigation regime from RDI
50
to FI and the
values were comparatively higher than that with RDI
0
. The higher IWUE under RDI
50
was attributed to higher increase in fruit yield with comparatively less water supply
in this treatment over other treatments. However, the possible reasons for higher fruit
yield per unit quantity of water applied under RDI
50
treatment may be due to sup-
pressed vegetative growth without bringing much effect on leaf photosynthesis rate
under this treatment. An improvement in IWUE in response to optimum RDI over FI
was also reported earlier in citrus [9, 23].
19.3.8 FRUIT QUALITY
The effect of irrigation on fruit quality parameters (juice content, TSS, TA, ascorbic
acid) is presented in Table 7. Juice percent increased with increase in irrigation level
from no irrigation to FI in EFGP. However, juice percent under irrigation at 50% ETc
and FI did not differ significantly, indicating the excess dehydration of juice sacs of
fruits with no irrigation, which could not be fulfilled by osmotic adjustment to main-
tain sufficient turgidity of fruits in this treatment.
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