Influence of drip and fertigation on cassava production in alfisols of Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu Dhanushkodi V*, Nageswari R Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research InstituteTiruchirappalli620027Tamil Nadu, India *Email for correspondence: dhanushselgi@yahoo.com.au
Online Published on 20 December, 2022. Abstract Cassava is most important tuber crop grown frequently under rainfed conditions. But in sufficient water and lack of nutrient availability under rainfed farming in a critical growth period affects its growth and tuber yield. The main focus of the present study was to assess the effect of drip and fertigation on cassava (Kumkum Rose) under rainfed ecosystem in Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu. ICAR – Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sirugamani, Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu introduced drip and fertigation in cassava production through demonstrations in 4.0 ha (10 demonstrations) under Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernanization Project funded by World Bank during 2019-22. The demonstrations were conducted during rabi season of 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22. Trainings on cassava production technologies and water and nutrient management practices were imparted to selected farmers. Under this programme, drip irrigation system was installed and water soluble fertilizers were used in demonstrations in farmers’ fields. The demonstrations were conducted with 3 treatments and 5 replications. Fertilizers were applied with three methods viz farmers’ practice (own practice), soil test-based fertilizer recommendation and nutrient management through fertigation. Frequent field visits and inspections were done by the KVK scientists for monitoring the crop growth. Under the demonstrations, the farmers harvested a tuber yield of 26.9 tonnes/ha with average cost-benefit ratio of 1:3.2 from drip and fertigation adopted plots. It was noticed that more yield and income were influencing factors for higher profitability of cassava cultivation. Besides, adoption of drip and fertigation system exerted a beneficial effect on reduction in weed infestation, yield attributing characteristics and starch content of tuber. Top Keywords Cassava, Drip, Fertigation, Weed intensity, Yield, Income. Top |