Yield Response, Nutritional Quality and Water Productivity of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) are Influenced by Drip Irrigation and Straw Mulch in the Coastal Saline Ecosystem of Ganges Delta, India

Abstract

In the coastal zone of the Ganges Delta, water shortages due to soil salinity limit the yield of dry season crops. To alleviate water shortage as a consequence of salinity stress in the coastal saline ecosystem, the effect of different water-saving (WS) and water-conserving options was assessed on growth, yield and water use of tomato; two field experiments were carried out at Gosaba, West Bengal, India in consecutive seasons during the winter of 2016–17 and 2017–18. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with five treatments viz., surface irrigation, surface irrigation + straw mulching, drip irrigation at 100% reference evapotranspiration (ET0), drip irrigation at 80% ET0, drip irrigation at 80% ET0 + straw mulching. Application of drip irrigation at 80% ET0 + straw mulching brought about significantly the highest fruit as well as the marketable yield of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). The soil reaction (pH), post-harvest organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N, P and K) status and soil microbial population along with the biochemical quality parameters of tomato (juice pH, ascorbic acid, total soluble solids and sugar content of fruits) were significantly influenced by combined application of drip irrigation and straw mulching. Surface irrigation significantly increased the salinity level in surface and sub-surface soil layers while the least salinity development was observed in surface mulched plots receiving irrigation water through drip irrigation. The highest water productivity was also improved from drip irrigation at 80% ET0 + straw mulched plots irrespective of the year of experimentation. Such intervention also helped in reducing salinity stress for the tomato crop. Thus, straw mulching along with drip irrigation at 80% ET0 can be recommended as the most suitable irrigation option for tomato crop in the study area as well as coastal saline regions of South Asia. Finally, it can be concluded that the judicious application of irrigation water not only increased growth, yield and quality tomatoes but also minimized the negative impact of soil salinity on tomatoes grown in the coastal saline ecosystem of Ganges Delta.

Management of Crop Residues for Improving Input Use Efficiency and Agricultural Sustainability

“…It has been reported that proper retention of crop residues has a significant impact on the regulation of the soil microbial biomass. The enhanced microbial activity in the top layer of soil by application of crop residue mulching was reported by Samui et al [39] and Mondal et al [3], and these might be due to the alteration of plant-soil micro-climate, increased water and nutrient availability, and regulation of soil temperature. Comparable findings were observed by Chatterjee et al [37], and they opined that soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) significantly increased through application of wheat crop residue.…”

“…On the other hand, reduction in soil moisture was more significant in the top layer of soil (0-30 cm) than in the deeper soil layer (Figure 6). Zero-tillage and mulching act as a barrier to diminish the evaporation from the top layer of soil by reducing the capillary rise of soil water [39]. Brahmachari et al [32] recommended that the present zero-tillage mulching technology for potato cultivation was very beneficial for the coastal saline zone to retain soil moisture in the dry winter months.…”

“…Application of crop residue in the field can effectively control the soil temperature by regulating the penetration of the sunlight and retaining the heat. Crop residues have an effective soil temperature moderating capacity, as thick mulching with crop residues maintains the soil temperature in a congenial range for plant growth throughout the cropping season [39,74]. In general, surface crop residues decrease the daytime soil temperature to a certain extent [67].…”

Influence of plastic film mulch with biochar application on crop yield, evapotranspiration, and water use efficiency in northern China: A meta-analysis

“…Local farmers in the rain-fed agricultural areas of the Loess Plateau of China practice ridge-furrow rainwater harvesting with plastic film mulching to improve yield and water use efficiency of crops (Eldoma et al, 2016;Yu, Jia & Zhao, 2018;Zhang et al, 2018;Pan et al, 2019). Mulching offers significant agro-ecological potential (Erenstein, 2003) and thus, one of the important agronomic practices to improve moisture retention capacity of soils (Ye & Liu, 2012), promotes carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) retention in leaves (Samui et al, 2020), soil microbial characteristics, and crop nutrients assimilation (Chakraborty et al, 2008). In unproductive soils, plastic film mulching also promotes nutrient use efficiency.…”

Mulching operation favours the suppression of weed seed germination and its growth. Hence, it keeps the weed under control

“…(2019) [10] , Ragab et al (2019) [24] , Oke et al (2020) [21] and Samui et al (2020) [27] . Similarly, highest yield per plant (2.36 kg), yield per plot (53.87 kg) and yield per hectare (44.12 t/ha) was recorded under polythene mulch and was on par with sugarcane mulch.…”