Bhendi (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) is one of the most familiar vegetables in India which is grown extensively throughout the year. Bhendi, an annual plant of Malvaceae family, is a cheap and nutritious vegetable consumed in India. India is the largest producer of Bhendi (okra) in the world. Okra is more remunerative than the leafy vegetables. Its adaptability to a wide range of growing conditions makes it popular among vegetables growers. In India, the area under okra is 3.60 lakhs hectares produces 3.5 million tonnes of fruits (Shanmugasundram, 2004). In Tamil Nadu, it is cultivated on an area of 6209 hectares with the production of 52566 tonnes (Anon, 2005).
Fresh okra fruits are used as vegetable in India, Brazil, West Africa and many other countries. Tender green fruits are cooked in curry and also used in soups, sun dried, frozen for abroad market. The root and stems are used for clearing cane juice in production of jaggery. The dry seeds contain 13-22 per cent edible oil and 20-24 per cent protein. The dry fruit shell and stem containing crude fibre is suitable for the manufacture of paper and cardboard (Thamburaj and Narenda Singh, 2001). The high iodine content, an essential element of fruits is helpful in controlling goiter disease. Green pods are rich source of protein, iron, vitamin A, B and C 100 grams of consumable unripe bhendi fruits contain 10.4g dry matter, 3100 calorie energy, 1.8 g protein, 90 mg calcium, 1.0 mg, 0.1mg carotene, 0.07 mg thiamin, 0.08 mg riboflavin, 0.08 mg niacin and vitamin-C (Thamburaj and Narenda Singh, 2001).
However, the average productivity of Bhendi in India is merely 148.4q/ha. This lower productivity in the country is due to several reasons. Among the various factors contributing to low yield, nutrient imbalance is one of the most important factors. Hence, there is greater scope for in increasing the yield of Bhendi through water and nutrient management.
Thus, the present study aims on the nutrient and water management in Bhendi with the following objectives.
To find the effect various methods of pressurized irrigation on the growth and yield of Bhendi.
To find the effect of fertigation under pressurized irrigation on the growth and yield of Bhendi.
1 Materials and methods
Field Location
The experiments were conducted in Agricultural College and Research Institute Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The experimental site is geographically located at 9 degree 54’N latitude and 78 degree 54’E longitude of 147m above mean sea level.
Weather and Climate
The meteorological parameters averaged over 25 years revealed that a mean annual rainfall of 864mm was received in 47 rainy days. Out of which 39.8 per cent was distributed during South West Monsoon (SWM), 42.0 per cent during North East Monsoon (NEM), 2.1 per cent during winter and 16.1 per cent during summer. The daily mean, medium and maximum temperatures were 33.37 and 23.94 degree Celsius respectively. The man daily PAN evaporation was 6.2 mm with a mean relative humidity of 79 per cent.
Soil Characteristics
The properties of the experimental soil are furnished viz., texture is Sandy Loam with 7.42 PH, 0.52 ds/m, EC and the available N, P and K was 220, 12.0 and 236 kg ha-1.
Crop and Varieties
Crop Name: Bhendi, Variety Name: Arka Anamica Bhendi is one of the most familiar vegetables in India, which is grown extensively throughout the year. Bhendi is a cheap and nutritious vegetable of the common man in India. The stem is useful for clearing cane juice in preparation of jaggery. The dry seed contains 13-22 per cent edible oil and protein. The plants are about 100 cm tall, upright; open with slight pigmentation on stem, petiole and lower leaves. Fruits are dark green with five prominent ridges and comparatively less smooth surface. The variety is excellent yielder in south with a lower performance in northern states. It has resistant to Yellow Mosaic Virus (YMV).
Cultivation practice
Preparation of experimental site
The field was ploughed thrice and brought to a fine tilth. Recommended dose of 40 kg nitrogen, 50 kg phosphorus and 30 kg of potash per ha were applied phosphorus as basal dressing before sowing.
Surface Irrigation- Furrow Irrigation
Drip Irrigation with lateral spacing of 90 cm
Micro Sprinkler with 2m x 2m spacing
Sowing and Planting
Healthy viable bhendi seeds of Arka Anamika were dibbled in main field. The spacing adopted for bhendi was 45 cm between rows and 30 cm between plants
Irrigation
Surface irrigation-irrigation was given at 10 days interval Micro irrigation-From the third irrigation onwards, the irrigation was given on the basis of pan evaporation values though micro sprinklers @ 75% Etc, 100% Etc and 125% Etc to respective treatment plot.
To carry out micro sprinkler irrigation treatment, 63 mm PVC main pipes and 40 mm PVC sub- main pipes were used to convey the water from the source to the field. The laterals with 16mm LDPE pipes were placed at a distance of 3m to a length of 24 m on either side of the sub-main. The micro-sprinklers were placed along the laterals at an interval of 3 m in order to have 33 per cent overlapping.
Fertilizer Application
Recommended dose of 40 kg nitrogen, 50 kg phosphorus and 30 kg of potash per ha were applied phosphorus as basal dressing before sowing and N & K as three equal splits on 20 and 40 days after sowing were pressurized irrigation phosphorus as basal by furrow method, nitrogen and potash as through fertigation from 7 to 84 days after sowing at weekly intervals.
Micro sprinkler irrigation plots received 50% phosphorus and potassium as basal through straight Fertilizer and 50% through fertigation. Fertigation was done with the application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the form of water soluble fertilizers (poly fed and multi K) through fertilizer tank (ventury unit).The calculated quantity of soluble fertilizer were dissolved in water and filled in the fertilizer tank after filtering. In each fertigation, the required quantity of water soluble fertilizers were dissolved separately in ten liters of water and supplied through ventury unit.
Crop management
Field preparation
The filed was ploughed twice with tractor drawn duck foot cultivator, followed by rotavator twice and leveled. Plot of 7.2m *7.2m (Experiment-I) and 7.2m *4.2m (Experiment-II) were formed with necessary irrigation channels for surface irrigation.
Seeds and Sowing
The seeds of vamban (Gg) 3 were treated with seed hardening and pelleting treatment and then dried in shade before sowing. The seed rate of 25 kg ha-1 was adopted. A uniform spacing of 30 cm between rows 10 cm between plants was adopted to maintain the uniform plant population of 33 plants per m2. Gap filling was done art 5 DAS and thinning was done at 7 DAS.
Irrigation
The sowing and light irrigation was given uniformly to all the plots irrespective of the treatment schedule and subsequent irrigations were given as per the treatments based on the evaporation values. Irrigation was given though field channels for the surface irrigation plots.
The time of micro-sprinkler irrigation was calculated for 100 per cent Etc as follows ans a chart was prepared to operate the micro sprinklers.
Irrigation Water Requirement
IW=ETc*A
ETC = Ep*Kp*Kc
Where,
IW = irrigation water requirement
ETc- Evapo-transpiration of crop (mm)
A-Plot area (m2)
Ep-Pan evaporation (mm)
Kp-pan factor (0.80)
Kc-crop coefficient (Annexure 11)
Time of micro sprinkler irrigation system operation
T= IW /Oms*Nms*60
Where,
T=Time (minutes)
IW=Irrigation water (litre)
Oms=men out of micro sprinkler (litre hour -1)
Nms =Number of micro sprinklers I in the plot (4 in Experiment 1 and 2 in Experiment)
Weed Management
The experimental fields were kept relatively free from weeds by spraying pendimethalin @1.0kg a.i.ha-1 to all the plots uniformly on third day after sowing. One hoeing and weeding was done at 30 DAS.
Fertilizer and Fertigation
Fertigation was done with application of calculated quantity of water soluble fertilizers through fertilizer tank (ventury unit) in sprinkler irrigation system. In surface irrigation area, the fertilizer application was done by manual broad casting.
Plant Protection
Root rot disease (Microphomina phaseolina) symptoms were noticed and it was controlled by spot drenching with carbendazim @1g lit-1(Experiment -1) and whitefly was controlled by spraying endosulfan @0.5 ml lit-1 at 30 and 45 DAS.
2 Experimental results
The experimental result was generated in the study of performance of Bhendi under different treatments of irrigation such like surface, drip irrigation, micro sprinkler and sub surface irrigation on growth yield, uptake of waters and quality of fruits are presented in Table 1.
Table 1 Effect of different irrigation practices on growth parameters of bhendi
|
Botanical Observation
The observation was recorded on 30, 60 and 90 DAS. Five randomly selected plants were tagged for observations in each treatment of irrigation plots.
Germination Percentage
Number of seeds germinated in each plot was counted on the fourth and fifth day after sowing and was expressed in percentage. The different types of irrigation had significant effect on germination percentage of bhendi at 5 DAS. The highest percentage of germination (98%) was recorded in sub surface irrigation plot and lowest percentage (87%) was recorded in surface irrigation plot at 5 DAS. The application treatments of different type of irrigation had significant effect of bhendi. Among the treatments, sub surface irrigation plot registered the highest percentage of germination (90%), while recorded the lowest (90%) at 5 DAS.
Plant Height
The height of plant was measured from the bottom of the plant to the tip of the longest leaf by using a scale on 30, 60 and 90 DAS in five plants at each stage of the crop growth and the average value was calculated and expressed in cm. The different types of irrigation had a significant effect on plant height of bhendi at 30, 60 and 90 DAS. The highest (21.55 cm) plant height was recorded in sub surface irrigation plot and the lowest (15.95 cm) was recorded in surface irrigation plot at 30 DAS, while at 60 DAS, the tallest plant (120.25 cm) was found in sub surface irrigation and shortest plant height (108.08 cm) was recorded in the surface irrigation plot. The highest plant height (180.05) was recorded in sub surface irrigation and followed by in drip irrigation (175.0 cm), micro sprinkler irrigation (172.08) and surface irrigation (160.5 cm) at 90 DAS.
Number of Leaves
The total number of leaves was counted in each of the five selected plants on 30, 60 and 90 DAS and the average value was expressed in number per plant. The application of fertilizer had significant effect on number of leaves per plant in bhendi at 30, 60 and 90 DAS. More number of leaves (14) per plant was recorded in sub surface plot and followed by drip irrigation (10) and the lowest number of leaves (8) was recorded in surface irrigation on 30 DAS, while at 60 DAS, more number of leaves per plant (34) was recorded in sub surface irrigation plot and less in surface irrigation plot (28).
Number of Branches
The total number of branches was counted in each five selected plant on 30, 60 and 90 DAS and the average value was expressed in number per plant. In case of fertilizer application through fertigation of had significant effect of branches of bhendi. In case micro sprinkler, the fertigation is similar to foliar sprays. More number of branches (12) was recorded in the treatment of sub surface irrigation plot, the treatment of drip irrigation plot (10) and treatment of micro sprinkler irrigation plot (8) was recorded in harvest stage of the crop.
Number of Flowers
The total number of flowers was counted in each five selected plant on 30, 60 and 90 DAS and the average value was expressed in number per plant. Application fertilizer through fertigation had effect on number of flowers in bhendi. The more number of flowers was recorded in the treatment of sub surface irrigation (66) and the lowest number of flowers in treatment of surface irrigation plot (40).
Number of Fruits
The total number of fruits was counted in each five selected plant on 30, 60 and 90 DAS and the average value was expressed in number per plant. In case of fertilizer application through fertigation of had significant effect of fruit of bhendi. In case micro sprinkler, the fertigation is similar to foliar sprays. More number of fruits (62) was recorded in treatment of sub surface irrigation plot, followed by the treatment of drip irrigation plot (56) and lowest number of fruit (32) was recorded in treatment of surface irrigation plot.
Fruit Yield ha-1
Total fruit yield per ha was recorded and the average value was expressed in t/ha. Among the treatments, the highest production (25.24t/ha) was recorded in sub surface irrigation plot, followed by drip irrigation plot (22.40t/ha) and micro sprinkler irrigation plot (16.80t/ha). Among the treatment of different irrigation plots, the lowest production (14.5t/ha) was recorded in surface irrigation plot.
3 Conclusion
A field experiment was conducted at Agricultural college and research institute, Madurai, India to study the effect of various methods of irrigation practices on the growth and yield of Bhendi. The subsurface irrigation at 100 per cent pan evaporation coupled with fertigation from 9 DAS to 90 DAS recorded the highest growth parameters, yield parameters and yield, compared to rest of the irrigation methods tried. Besides, the water use and water use efficiency was also higher with subsurface irrigation. Surface irrigation with conventional method of fertilizer application in three splits recorded the lowest values. Hence, the subsurface method of irrigation may be recommended as a viable irrigation practice for Bhendi as compared to all other methods.
Abdul HAFEEZ A.T. and J.P. Hudson. 1967. Effect of hardening in radish seeds
Ahmed Raza, M. 1997. Seed technology studies on bellary onion (Allium cepa). M.sc. (Agri) Thesis, Tamilnadu Agric .Univ. Coimbatore
Ahmed, A.S. 1999. Effect of seed pelleting on field performance of blackgram. Leg.Res., 22(2): 109-112
Aman,U. and Naiz,h. 1989. Effect of pre-sowing seed treatment on seed and oil yield of sunflower (Helianthus annus L.). J. of Agric. Res., (Lahore), 27:217-222
Amaregouda, A., M.B. Chetti. and S. Manjunath.1994. Physiological basis of yield variation due to application of different chemicals in wheat. Annals of plant physiology, 8:24-28
Austin, R.B., P.C Longden, and J. Jane Hutchinson.1969.Some effects of hardening carrot seeds.Annals of Botany,33.883-895
Balaji, D.S. 1990. Studies on the seed and soil relationship to certain crops; Paddy, Greegram, soybean, redgram, sunflower, groundnut and cotton. M.Sc.(Agri) Thesis Tamilnadu Agric .UNiv.,Coimatore
Balamurugan, P., Balasubramani, V. and Sundaralingam, K. 2003. Nutrient coating and foliar application on seed yield and quantity in sesame.ICAR short course on seed hardening and pelleting technologies for rainfed/garden land ecosystem. Tamil Nadu Agric.Univ.,Coimbatore, pp.192
Barrs, H.D. and P.E. Weatherly.1962. A re-examination of the relative turgidity technique for estimating water deficits in leaves. Australian J. Biolo. Sci.,15:413-428
Basara Beguam,J. and V.Krishnasamy, 2003. Effect of seed hardening and pelleting on seed germination and vigour in blackgram. Seed Res., 31(2):194-199
Basaria Beguuam, J. 2001. Seed hardening cum pelleting studies in blackgram cv.CO.5M.Sc., Thesis. Tamilnadu Agric.Univ.,Coimbatore
Berad, S.M., S.H. Shinde and S.D Dahiwalker.1998. Effects of drip irrigation and paired planting on productivity and economics of banana. J. Maharashtra Agric. Univ., 3(30):288-290
Bharathi, A., nateson, P., Vanagamudi, K. Sherin and P.Thangavel, 2003.Conceptual and utility differences among seed technologies viz.,seed pelleting,sed coating and colouring. ICAR short course on seed hardening and pelleting technologies for rainfed/garden land ecosystem. Tamil nadu Agric., Univ., Coimbatore. P.131
Bill Segars. Fertigation in IMC Global (ed) Efficient fertilizer use; Manual. Fourth Edition. Accessed at http://www.agcentral.com
Boman, B.j and M.L Parsons. 1995. Considerations for component selection in micro sprinkler systems. In:proc. Of 5th Int. Micro irrigation Cong., April 2-6 ASAE. Orlando, Florida, USA.701 707
Borse, P.A., V.S. Pawar and A.D. Tumbare. 2002. Response of greengram to irrigation schedule and fertilizer level. Indian J. of Agric Sci., 72(7):418-420
Bracy, R.P., R. J, Edling and E.B Moser. 1995. Drip irrigation management and fertilization on bell-pepper in humid areas. In: proc .of 5th Int .Micro irrigation Cong., April 2-6 ASAE
Bucks, D.A., F.S. Nakayama and W. Warrick. 1984. Principles of trickle irrigation. Irrrig. Rev., 219-295
Chandagera, V.K and J.P. Yaadavendra, 1998. Efficacy of sprinkler irrigation in chickpea.Gujarat Agric .Univ. Res.J., 24(1):1-3
Chauhan, H.S. and P. Srivasatava. 1995. Cabbage growth under different irrigation method. In: Proc. Of Int. Micro irrigation cong., April 1-6 ASAE. Orlando, Florida, USA. 893-898
Dabhi. B.M., J.C. Patel and R.M. Solanki. 1998. Response of summer greengram to irrigation method and varying moisture regimes. Leg. Res., 21(2): 96-100
Dabhi. B.M., R.M. Solanki and J.C. petel. 2000. Response of summer greengram to irrigation to irrigation systems based on IW/CPE ratio. Gujarat Agricultural University Research Journal, 25(2): 20-23
Dakshinamurthy, C. and R.P. Gupta. 1968. Pracices in soil physics. IARI. New Delhi (Mimeographed)
Deolanker, K.P. and P.S. Pandit. 1998. Use of drip and fertigation of liquid fertilizers in chickpea. J. Mharashtra Agric.Univ., 23(3):307-308
Deolanker, K.P. and S.M. Berad. 1998. Effect of fertigation on growth, yield and water use efficency of chick pea (Cicer arietinum). Indian J. Agron., 44(3): 581-583
Dileepkumar A.Masuthi., B.S. Vyaskarnahal, V.K. Deshpande. 2009. Influence of pelleting with micro nutrients and botanicals on growth, seed yield and quality of vegetable cowpea. Karnataka J. Agric. Sci., 22(4): 898-900
FAO. 1989. Guidelines for designing and evaluting surface irrigation system. Irrigaton drinage paper 45. FAO. Rome. accessed at: http:// www.fao .org
FAO.1997. Small-scale irrigation for arid zones: principle and options. Land and water development Division. FAO. Rome. accessed at: http:// www.fao .org
Firake, N.N., S.H. Shinde and S.S. Magar. 1998. Drip irrigation scheduling for castor in sandy clay loam. J. Maharashtra Agric. Univ., 23(3):280-282
Geetha, R. and A.Selvakumari. 2008. Effect of seed hardening and pelleting in sorghum under rainfed condition. Rashtriya Krishi, 3(2):138-139
Goldberg, D. and M. Shmueli. 1971. Sprinkle and trickle irrigation of green pepper in an arid zone. Horticultural Sciences, 6: 559-562
Harish, Babu, D.N., Kempegowda, M.L., Kalappa, N.D. and V.Rudra Naik, 2005. Comparative evaluation of different pelleting materials on seed performance of French bean and greengram . Karnataka J. of Agric. Sci., 18 (1) : 32-35
Hartz, T.K. 1994. Drip irrigation and fertigation management of vegetable crops. Calif. Dept. Food Agric. Sacramento, C.A
Humphries, E.C. 1956. Mineral components and ash analysis. Modern Methods of Plant Analysis. Springer Verlag. Berlin. I: 468-502
Idnani, L.K. and R.J. Singh, 2008. Effect of irrigation regimes, planting and irrigation methods and arbuscular mycorrhizae on the productivity, nutrient uptake and water use in summer greengram. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 78 (1): 53-57
Idnani, L.K. and H.K. Gautam. 2008. Water economization in summer greengram as influenced by irrigation regimes and land configuration. Indian J. Agric. Sci., 78 (3): 214-9
ISTA. 1999. International rules for seed testing. Seed Sci. and Technol., Supplement Rules, 27: 25-30
Jackson, K.L., 1973. Soil Chemical Analysis, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. P. 498
Jadhav, G.S., D.M. Lomte and N.V. Kagde. 2002. Effect of irrigation and fertigation through drip on productivity and water use efficiency of hybrid cotton. Extended Summeries. Vol.2, International agronomy Congress, Nov, 26-30. New Delhi, India
Jayaraj, T. 1977. Study of the effect of plant protection chemicals on seed quality in sesame cv. KRR 2 and TMV 3. M. Sc., (Ag) Thesis, Tamil Nadu Agric. Univ., Coimbatore
Jeyabal, A., G. Kuppusamy and A.R. Lakshmanan. 1992. Effect of seed coating on yield attributes and yield of soyabean. J. Agron and Crop Sci., 169: 145-150
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-037X.1992.tb01020.x