Modeling of soil water dynamics for tomato cultivation under drip irrigation with mulching

Abstract

Drip irrigation under plastic mulch is an important water management practice to increase crop production and save irrigation water. The performance of different colour of mulches need to be assessed for selecting an appropriate colour to suit the local climatic conditions and to achieve the twin objectives of water conservation and high productivity. Therefore, a field experiment was carried out during rabi season 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 at C Block farm, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, to simulate the soil moisture movement in tomato field using numerical model Hydrus-1D and to study the effect of different colour plastic mulch and drip irrigation on growth and yield of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design with three different colour mulches (black on silver, silver on black and white on black) compared with control (without mulch) and irrigation scheduling with drip irrigation at 60, 80 and 100 % ETc levels. The soil texture of the experimental field was sandy clay loam with the bulk density of 1.43 g cm-3. newlinePlastic mulching is covering the soil to make more favorable conditions for plant growth, development and efficient crop production and reduce the evaporation and maintain the soil moisture compare to the no mulched plot. The maximum soil temperature of 33.61 and 34.47°C was recorded in black on silver mulch and the optimum soil temperature was recorded as 27.16°C and 26.84°C in white on black mulch during season I and season II. newlineThe highest soil moisture content observed one day after irrigation at the depth of 20 cm below the emitter was 26.55 and 28.33 % for season I and II respectively with white on black colour mulching with 100 % ETc regime. newlineMulches significantly helped in increasing the plant growth and yield attributes when compared to control. The irrigation regime of 80 % ETc was found to be optimum in enhancing the plant biometrics and factors attributing to the enhancement in yield. newlineThe highest tomato yie