Impact of Irrigation Regimes on Growth, Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Sweet Pepper

Field experiment was conducted in the Department of Soil and Water Engineering, PAU, Ludhiana. In the experiments, drip and furrow irrigation methods were used and their effects on growth and yields of the sweet pepper were observed using split plot design. The irrigation treatments were, drip irrigation with IW/CPE ratio of 0.60(I1), drip irrigation with IW/ CPE ratio of 0.75(I2), drip irrigation with IW/CPE ratio of 0.90(I3), furrow irrigation with paired row planting (I4) and furrow irrigation with single row planting (I5). The dry matter accumulation, number of fruit per plant, fruit size, total yield and water use efficiency were observed highest in I2 treatments. The highest plant height and leaf area index were observed in I3 treatment. The minimum number of days to flowering, fruit initiation and fruit maturity were observed I1 treatments. There were significant effects of irrigation on leaf area index, plant height, dry matter accumulation, number of days to flowering, fruit initiation, fruit maturity, fruit girth, number of fruit per plant, fruit length, yield and WUE. Best drip irrigated treatment I2 gave an increase of 30.67% over I4 and an increase of 33.74% over I5. The percentage of water saving for drip irrigation treatment I1, I2 and I3 were 51.01%, 39.72% and 28.73% respectively over the furrow irrigation treatment. Irrigation treatment I2 gives maximum yield and highest WUE.