Effect of plastic low tunnel and mulch type on soil temperature, growth, earliness and yield of brinjal under net-house and open field in plains of North-Western India

Authors

  • Ajmer Singh Dhatt Department of Vegetable Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004 Author
  • Naveen Garg Author
  • Rajinder Singh Author
  • I S Aujla Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24154/jhs.v12i2.9

Abstract

A two-year study was conducted to compare the performance of brinjal hybrid BH-2 using paddy straw mulch @ 6 t ha-1, clear plastic mulch (25 μm), black plastic mulch (25 μm), plastic low tunnel and control (bare soil) under net-house and open field at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. The maximum increase in morning and afternoon soil temperature over bare soil was observed using black plastic mulch followed by clear plastic mulch in both net-house and open field whereas paddy straw mulch reduced the soil temperature over bare soil in open field. Under net house, black and clear plastic mulch were better than other treatments and recorded maximum plant height (50.8 cm and 43.7 cm), number of leaves/plant (64.8 and 64.3), early yield (7.1 and 6.6 t ha-1), number of fruits/plant (16.1 and 14.4) and total yield (57.4 and 55.7 t ha-1), respectively. In open field, plastic low tunnel was the best treatment and recorded maximum plant height (40.4 cm), number of leaves/plant (51.2), early yield (5.9 t ha-1), number of fruits/ plant (14.6) and total yield (58.5 t ha-1). The study offers the scope of enhancing brinjal production in spring and early summer which may be highly profitable for farmers.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abney, T.D. and Russo, V.M. 1997. Factors affecting plant height and yield of eggplant. J. Sustainable Agri., 10(4):37-48

Awasthi, O.P., Singh, I.S. and Sharma, B.D. 2006. Effect of mulch on soil-hydrothermal regimes, growth and fruit yield of brinjal under arid conditions. Ind. J. Hort., 63:192-194

Bhat, K.L. 2011. Brinjal (Solanum melongena Linn.). Daya Publishing House, New Delhi, pp 108-133

Cheema, D.S., Kaur, P. and Kaur, S. 2004. Off-season cultivation of tomato under net house conditions. Acta Hort., 659:177-181

Daisley, L.E.A., Chong, S.K., Olesen, F.J., Singh, L. and George, C. 1988. Effect of surface applied grass mulch on soil water content and yield of cowpea and eggplant in Antigua. Tropical Agric., 65(4):300-304

Diaz-Perez, J.C. and Batal, K.D. 2002. Colored plastic film mulches affect tomato growth and yield via changes in root-zone temperature. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci., 127(1):127-136

Espi, E., Salmeron, A., Fontecha, A., Garcia, Y. and Real, A.I., 2006. Plastic films for agricultural applications. J. Plast. Film Sheet., 22:85-102

Lamont, W.J. 2005. Plastics: modifying the microclimate for the production of vegetable crops. HortTechnol., 15(3):477-481

Mahmoudpour, M.A. and Stapleton, J.J. 1997. Influence of sprayable mulch colour on yield of eggplant (Solanum melongena L. cv. Millionaire). Sci. Hort., 70:331-338

Mooran, G.W. 1982. The influence of black plastic mulching on infection rates of verticillium wilt and yields of eggplants. Phytopathol., 72(11):1412-1414

Rangarajan, A. and Ingall, B. 2001. Mulch colour affects radicchio quality and yield. Hort.Sci., 36(7):1240-1243

Rangaswamy, R. 2014. A textbook of agricultural statistics. New Age International (P) Limited Publishers, New Delhi, pp 333-364

Sethi, V.P., Dubey, R.K. and Dhatt, A.S. 2009. Design and evaluation of modified screen net house for off-season vegetable raising in composite climate. Energy Convers. Manag., 50:3112-3128.

Sidhu, A.S. and Dhatt, A.S., 2007. Current status of brinjal research in India. Acta Hort., 752:243-247

Singh, D., Kaur, S., Dhillon, T.S., Singh, P., Hundal, J.S. and Singh, G.J. 2004. Protected cultivation of sweet pepper hybrids under net-house in Indian conditions. Acta Hort., 659:515-521

Singh, I.S., Awasthi, O.P., Dhandar, D.G. and Meena, S.S. 2005. Plastic and organic mulching in brinjal. Proceedings of International Conference on Plasticulture and Precision Farming, held during 17-21st November, 2005, at New Delhi, India, p 501.

Downloads

Published

31-12-2017

Issue

Section

Original Research Papers

How to Cite

Dhatt, A. S., Garg, N., Singh, R., & Aujla, I. S. (2017). Effect of plastic low tunnel and mulch type on soil temperature, growth, earliness and yield of brinjal under net-house and open field in plains of North-Western India. Journal of Horticultural Sciences, 12(2), 106-112. https://doi.org/10.24154/jhs.v12i2.9