Drip irrigation regimes and mulches effects on soil temperature.

Drip irrigation regimes and mulches effects on soil temperature. 
Dr. Mohd. Suhail, drsuhial.lmp@gmail.com, Mob. 9450384746, KVK Lakhimpur
Key worlds : aonla, drip, fungus, bacteria earthworms
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out during 1996-97 and 97-98 on drip irrigation regimes and mulching method on nutrient uptake of aonla (Emblica officinalis) cv. NA-10. It is clear from the observation that application of different regimes shows that there is very minute impact on soil temperature. In general higher soil temperature was reported in I1 (IW/CPE=1) irrigation regime. The soil temperature at 15 cm. depth varied in deferent mulches. Maximum soil temperature has been reported in black polythine (M1) followed by control and paddy straw mulch.
INTRODUCTION
Aonla or Indian Gooseberry (Emblica officinalis) thrives well in varied climate and soil conditions in the country. In recent years its cultivation is inereasing rapidly particularly in salt affected soil (sodic, saline) and also in ravines area. Drip irrigation coupled with mulching can play an important role in conserving soil moisture, regulating soil temperature, reducing soil erosion, improving soil structure and control the weed population. Continuous use of organic mulches also helps in physio-chemical and biological properties of the soil. The present investigation was design to find out the advantages of mulches on soil temperature. 
MATERIAL AND METHOD
A two years field experiment was conducted during 1996-97 and 1997-98 at Main Experimental Station of N.D.U.A. & T. Kumarganj, Faizabad. The site is lies between a latitude of 24.470 and 26.560 and longitude of 81.120 and 83.890 at an elevation of 113.0 meter of mean sea level. There were four irrigation regimes and three mulching treatments.
Table 1: Detail of treatment combinations and their notation
S.N. Details of treatment combination Notation
1 IW / CPE = 10 + Black polythene I1M1
2 IW/ CPE = 10 + Paddy straw I1M2
3 IW / CPE = 10 + Control I1M3
4 IW / CPE = 0.8 + Black polythene I2M1
5 IW/ CPE = 0.8 + Paddy straw I2M2
6 IW / CPE = 0.8 + Control I2M3
7 IW / CPE = 0.6 + Black polythene I3M1
8 IW/ CPE = 0.6 + Paddy straw I3M2
9 IW / CPE = 0.6 + Control I3M3
10 IW / CPE = 0.4 + Black polythene I4M1
11 IW/ CPE = 0.4 + Paddy straw I4M2
12 IW / CPE = 0.4 + Control I4M3
Where,
IW is depth of irrigation water (cm)
CPE is cumulative pan evaporation (mm) recorded class ‘A’ pan evapometer
 Application of water
Water is usually applied by drip method on the bases of cumulative pan evaporation which is an indirect estimation method crop water status. The evaporation was daily recorded form the Department of Meteorology with the help of class ‘A’ pan evapometer. The amount of water required was computed at the ratio of IW over CPE at third day interval for irrigation treatment as per the following formula:
Quantity of water (liter)
=  (Size of baisn 〖(m〗^2) ×depth of irrigation (cm)×Pan evaporation (mm))/100
Mulching
Black polythene sheet of 400 gauge of 4.0 x 4.0 m2 size was unrolled on the surface of the basin with their corner and side stitched with stacking pins and their other side tagged in soil to avoid rolling and splitting on account of strong winds. Paddy straw @ 20 Kg/plant (approximately 10 cm thickness) was spread over the tree basin and there were no mulches in control treatment. The mulches were placed after fertilization, irrigation and weeding the experimental plots to ensure the uniform moisture content.
Cultural Operations (Manuring and fertilization)
Plant were supplied with uniform dose of farm yard @ 50 kg per plant and chemical fertilizer @ 800 g N, 600 g P2O5 ad 800 g K2O per plant into two split doses, one half dose at the time of mulching (Feb.) and second half dose in the last month of August.
Soil temperature –
A digital soil thermometer (0 + 0.10C) was used to record soil temperature it is replication. The thermometers were stabled into the soil at 15 cm. depth and temperature recorded at weekly interval at 1430IST throughout the experimental period. The averaged monthly temperature had been illustrated in table (1).
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Soil temperature –
From the observation of Table (2 and 3) & Fig (1) it is clear that application of water at different irrigation regimes had very minute impact on soil temperature during the entire period of experimentation. The continued higher soil temperature was recorded in black polythene mulching, it was followed by control and paddy straw mulching which recorded minimum soil temperature at most of the stages of observation Mulching with black polythene maintained continuously higher temperature because of black polythene intercepted more solar radiation and lower albedo (reflectivity) and reduced the loss of soil heat. It is in accordance with earlier information as advocated by Anderson and Gusttridge (1978), Marumata et. al, (1991). in strawberry, Tripathi and Katiyar (1984), in ber. Reduction of soil temperature with the use of organic mulches has been reported in a number of crops like tomato (Srivastava et al, 1984), banana (Obiefuna, 1991).
It is clear from the illustrated data in Table (2 and 3) that soil temperature was generally higher in polythene mulch alongwith higher level of irrigation (I1M1 treatment combination). Light and frequent irrigation together with paddy straw mulching reduced the soil temperature during the experimental period. Bell et al. (1985), Hochmuth et al. (1987) and Gupta and Gupta (1987) reported that mulching with plastic film and irrigation through drip method may raise the temperature. Organic mulches having cooling effect with frequent irrigation (Ghorai, 1994).


Table 1 : Meteorological observation during investigation
    (from Oct. 1995 to Oct 1997)
Period Atm. Temperature (0C) Rain fall (mm) Evopo ration (mm) Relative humidity (%) Wind velocity (km hr-1) Soil temperature
Min. Max. 5 cm 10 cm 15 cm
1995
Oct 20.06 32.92 0.00 3.80 71.07 1.06 29.06 29.59 28.33
Nov 13.12 28.40 24.50 2.68 64.24 1.18 21.74 21.97 21.75
Dec 9.47 24.37 15.40 2.40 63.69 1.70 17.34 17.60 16.98
1996
Jan 8.53 21.74 68.60 2.50 74.27 2.30 15.82 15.89 16.05
Feb 9.93 24.66 30.40 4.20 71.15 2.01 18.07 18.78 17.90
March 15.47 32.44 0.00 6.11 56.48 3.92 25.57 25.51 23.56
April 19.24 37.32 0.60 8.57 42.20 3.91 32.12 32.90 30.40
May 25.20 41.20 2.20 10.30 37.20 5.50 36.9 36.70 32.60
June 27.00 35.70 93.20 8.30 65.20 5.80 31.20 30.10 29.80
July 26.70 33.40 132.60 4.92 81.68 2.84 32.05 31.83 31.08
Aug 26.05 31.91 368.60 3.98 88.82 1.25 30.51 31.22 29.97
Sep 25.10 32.30 168.20 3.95 84.10 1.28 30.20 30.90 29.80
Oct 20.03 30.14 165.2 3.01 73.72 0.59 26.64 26.61 25.76
Nov 11.38 28.24 0.00 2.65 59.44 1.26 21.78 21.28 20.81
Dec 6.44 24.37 0.00 1.74 63.07 0.95 15.80 15.57 15.04
1997
Jan 6.54 22.01 2.80 1.99 68.06 0.70 15.43 15.37 14.31
Feb 8.23 25.14 0.00 3.90 58.00 2.35 20.32 19.26 17.06
March 13.60 30.86 6.10 5.50 56.66 30.40 27.41 26.51 23.53
April 17.17 35.74 9.30 7.74 47.91 3.55 33.31 31.45 28.62
May 22.92 39.35 18.00 9.92 37.18 3.88 39.90 37.70 33.16
June 26.60 38.29 120.40 8.98 53.90 4.43 37.47 36.35 34.01
July 26.72 32.90 482.26 4.62 80.60 4.62 32.60 32.50 31.20
Aug 26.00 31.70 269.60 3.70 80.30 2.69 31.20 30.90 30.50
Sept 24.90 33.30 2.60 3.60 82.20 3.60 29.80 29.70 28.90
Oct 19.50 29.83 18.20 4.17 73.53 1.09 28.21 27.94 26.89


Table 2: Effect of drip irrigation regimes and mulching on soil temperature (0C) at 2:30 PM from November 1996 to June 1997.
Irrigation (IW/CPE November 96 December 96 January 97 February 96
Mulching I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean
M1 20.46 20.25 20.06 19.99 20.19 18.28 18.08 18.04 18.02 18.11 19.10 19.00 19.00 18.92 19.01 20.34 20.18 19.87 19.66 20.01
M2 19.98 17.93 17.88 17.87 18.42 17.93 17.93 17.89 17.87 17.91 18.30 18.28 18.04 18.03 18.16 18.55 18.55 18.12 18.08 18.28
M3 19.52 19.59 19.68 19.68 19.62 17.29 17.29 17.29 17.30 17.30 18.44 18.49 18.52 18.53 18.50 19.27 19.29 19.46 19.50 19.38
Mean 19.90 19.26 19.21 19.18 17.83 17.76 17.74 17.73 18.61 18.59 18.52 18.49 19.39 19.27 19.15 19.08
March 96 April 96 May 96 June 96
I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean
M1 23.56 23.50 23.46 23.10 23.41 28.80 28.77 28.75 28.22 28.64 32.76 32.39 32.14 31.92 32.30 35.00 34.99 34.95 33.86 34.70
M2 21.80 21.75 21.66 21.15 21.59 24.96 24.29 23.30 23.16 23.93 28.50 28.13 27.34 27.30 27.82 29.63 29.58 29.53 29.48 29.56
M3 21.99 22.08 22.14 22.86 22.27 26.30 26.45 26.64 26.84 26.56 30.00 30.38 31.40 31.45 30.81 32.37 32.40 32.42 33.48 32.67
Mean 22.45 22.44 22.42 22.37 26.69 26.50 26.23 26.07 30.42 30.30 30.29 30.22 32.33 32.32 32.30 32.27

Table 3: Effect of drip irrigation regimes and mulching on soil temperature (0C) at 2:30 PM from November 1995 to June 1996.
Irrigation (IW/CPE November 95 December 95 January 96 February 97
Mulching I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean
M1 19.99 19.94 19.58 19.52 19.76 18.78 18.69 18.62 18.58 18.67 21.00 20.95 20.08 19.89 20.49 23.37 22.60 22.43 21.40 22.46
M2 18.78 18.69 18.35 18.21 18.51 18.42 18.41 18.34 18.33 18.38 19.10 19.09 19.00 19.86 19.26 19.23 19.16 18.17 18.15 18.68
M3 17.63 17.69 17.77 17.78 17.72 18.39 18.40 18.50 18.50 18.45 20.00 20.02 20.09 20.10 20.05 21.36 21.53 21.90 22.23 21.76
Mean 18.80 18.77 18.57 18.50 18.53 18.50 18.49 18.47 20.03 20.03 19.7 19.95 21.32 21.10 20.83 20.59
March 97 April 97 May 97 June 97
I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean I1 I2 I3 I4 Mean
M1 25.39 25.02 24.71 23.98 24.78 29.52 29.40 29.36 28.65 29.23 33.98 33.94 32.45 31.78 33.04 36.01 35.60 34.88 34.19 35.17
M2 23.39 22.55 22.31 21.65 22.48 25.92 25.44 23.46 23.24 24.52 28.56 28.33 27.89 27.85 28.16 30.48 30.14 30.08 29.78 30.12
M3 23.33 23.82 24.10 24.50 23.94 26.86 27.06 28.00 28.10 27.51 32.83 32.38 34.16 34.50 33.47 33.23 33.29 3.56 34.00 33.52
Mean 24.04 23.80 23.71 23.38 27.43 27.30 26.94 26.66 31.79 31.55 31.50 31.38 33.24 33.01 32.84 32.66

LITERATURE CITED
Anderson, H.M., Guttridge, C.G. (1987). The performance of strawberry on polythine mulch ridges in England. Horticultural Research, 18 (1) : 27 – 29
Bell, C.E.; Durazo, A. III. Elmore, C.L. (1985). Weed management on specialty famrs- California Agriculture, 39 (11-12) : 17 18
Ghorai, A.K. (1994). Studies an growth yield, and water use of some field crop as influence by different level of irrigation and organic mulches in multiple cropping system Annual Report, WTCRI, Orissa, 91-101
Gupta, J.P.; Gupta, G.N. (1987). Response of tomato and okra crops to irrigation and mulches in arid region of India. Agrochimica 31 (3) : 193 – 203
Hochmuth , G.J., Kostewies, S.R., Locascio, S.J., Albreghts, E.E., Howered, C.M., Stauley, C.D. (1987). Freeze protection of strawberries with floating row covers. Proceeding of Florida state Horticultural Society. 99 : 307 – 311
Marumata, T.; Aaki, M.; Suzuk, Y.; Kusaka, T.; Kheng, J.W.C.; Higashi, T. (1991). Effect of rhizosphere conditions on the growth of strawberry I. Effect of nitrogen level, soil temperature and mulch. Bulletin of faculty of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University, No. 39 : 23 – 35.
Obiefuna, J.C. (1991). The effect of crop residue mulches on the yield and production pattern of plantain (Musa AAB), Biological Agriculture and Horticulture, 8 (1) : 71 – 81
Srivastava, B.K., Sharme, A.K., Singh, N.P., Pandey, U.B., (1994). Effect of organic mulches and irrigation level of fruit temperature, water economy yield of summer tomato, Vegetable Sciences, 11 (1) : 1 – 9
Tripathi, R.P., Katiyar, T.P.S., (1984). Effect of mulches on thermal regime of soil. Soil and Tillage Research, 4 : 381 – 390.