Performance evaluation of deep root irrigation for okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)

Introduction

Water is the main principle of life and essential for socio-economic development of any region. Yet, water resources have been taken as free resources to be used without paying which leads to long term consequences of its improper management. Agriculture sector is the major consumer of water resources in India. However, increasing competition for water for individual, domestic and power sector necessitates urgent need for development of water saving technologies to ensure more crops drop in agriculture. Efficient water management in agriculture is the major challenge to ensure sustainable food production in India. Due to escalating demand of water in arid and semi-arid regions, the irrigation water availability will decline in coming years. Therefore, it is imperative to develop technologies for judicious utilization of available water in agriculture to ensure future food security of the country. It is estimated that by 2050, the population of India is likely to be 1.6 billion, resulting in increased demand for water (32%), food and energy (Bhavan). According to National Water Policy, 2012, India has more than 18% of the world's population, 4% of world's renewable water resources, and 2.4% of world's land area. During the 20th century the world population tripled while global demand for water has increased six-fold. The challenge of water in 21st century is one both quantity and quality. If current trends persist, by 2025 two-thirds of the world's population will be living with serious water storage or no water at all. The per capita availability of water which was about 1704 cubic meter in 2010 is projected to be 1235 cubic meter in 2050. In such situation, proper utilization, planning and management of water resources is highly needed to minimize the gap between the supply and demand (GOI). Vegetable crops are eminent source of human nutrition. These are short duration crops, which can be grown in small spaces. Considering that the world population is estimated to increase 65% by 2050, the demand for food will increase strain on fresh water resources. Commercial production of vegetable is not possible without adequate water availability throughout the growing season. The production of vegetables has increased from 101.2 million tonnes to 184.4 million tonnes since 2004-05 to 2017-18. Due to expected scarcity of water in future, water use efficient crop can only scope with the increasing demand (Horticulture statistics division, 2018). Okra or Lady's finger is an annual vegetable grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is related to cotton and hibiscus and is a tall growing, annual summer vegetable. The varieties can grow up to three and half meters. The edible part is a pod. The plant may have single or branched stem. Flowers are born singly at every node oration alternate node. Okra probably had originated in Abyssinian centre of origin of cultivated plants comprising present day Ethiopia, the mountainous or the plateau region of Eritrea and the eastern higher regions of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Okra has been cultivated by Egyptians since the 12th century AD and spread all over the countries. It's known for its outstanding nutritive and medicinal values. India ranks first in the production of 5.5 million tonnes of okra. (Horticulture statistics division, 2018). Drip irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surface. The goal is to place water directly into the root zone and minimize evaporation. Properly designed, installed, and managed, drip irrigation may help achieve water conservation by reducing evaporation and deep drainage when compared to other types of irrigation such as flood or overhead sprinklers since water can be more precisely applied to plant roots. In addition, drip can eliminate many diseases that are spread through water contact with the foliage. Finally, in regions where water supplies are severely limited, there may be no actual water savings, but rather simply an increase in production while using the same amount of water as before.

In very arid regions or on sandy soils, the preferred method is to apply the irrigation water as slowly as possible. Deep root irrigation is not new, but is probably underutilized, it's development started in 2013 and the irrigation system was launched in April 2017. Trials have shown water use reductio of as much as 70%. The Deep root irrigation unit has been tested and shown to save water up to 50% compared to traditional irrigation, while allowing more water available to the roots of the plant.

Deep root irrigation was invented in response to the immense amount of water lost to surface irrigation methods in agriculture due to evaporation and runoff. Especially critical in areas of prolonged drought or where groundwater supplies are in critical shortage or have been depleted. Traditional surface methods like micro-sprinklers and drip emitters inefficiently apply water on top of the soil, requiring longer irrigation sets and greater amounts of water to sustain plant vitality. By starting the watering process under ground the deep root irrigation provides a hyperefficient delivery system of water and nutrients requiring significantly less inputs and less energy for equal and often superior results.

Methodology

Surampalem is a Village in Gandepalli, Mandal in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh State, India. It belongs to Andhra region. It is located 62 Km towards North from District headquarters Kakinada. This site is located at 17° 4' 52.68"N latitude and 82° 3' ‫ﹾ52‬ E longitude. The climate is comparatively equitable and although it is very warm in May with a maximum temperature of 44°. The annual rainfall of the district is 1565 mm. The main soils in the district are alluvial (Clay loamy) red soils, sandy loams and sandy clay. There are mostly alluvial soils in Godavari delta area and sandy clay soils at tail end portions of Godavari. There are red loamy soils in uplands and agency area of the district. The soil type in the experimental site is red clay loam.

Experimental Site:

The area of about 13.71 m × 9.14 m was selected in Aditya University at Agricultural Engineering department farm. The selected site was properly pulverized using tractor mounted Rotavator during land preparation before cultivation. The area was divided into three plots to perform three different irrigation methods. Each plot dimensions were 4.5m×9.14m. Okra seeds were sown in the first plot to perform control irrigation method by maintaining row to row and plant to plant spacing equally. Then the drip irrigation system was arranged in the experimental site of second plot with 7 laterals at a distance of 0.6m from each other. The drip irrigation system was designed and installed such a way to maintain required pressure at the end of the plot so that uniform water distribution at each emitter head is obtained.

Installation of Pipeline Setup

The lateral polyethylene pipes of 16 mm diameter were installed in 7 rows. The distance between two laterals and plant to plant distance was 0.6m. The pressure compensating emitters were fixed into laterals with a punch hole at a distance of 0.6m. Each lateral contains 15 emitters. A total of 105 emitters were used in a drip plot. The water into drip plots was delivered by pumping water from submersible pump through long main PVC pipeline of 76.2 mm diameter which was connected with sub main. Under drip irrigation system, water was delivered to the plant root zone directly at a slow and low-pressure rate (8lph) in small amounts through emitters for watering the plants. The average fruit weight (g) was determined by weighing five randomly selected okra fruits from each treatment separately using a weighing balance, and the mean value was recorded. Fruit length (cm) was measured for five sample okra fruits using a measuring tape, and the average of these measurements was noted. Fruit diameter (cm) was determined by cutting each of the five sample fruits at the widest portion and measuring the diameter by placing it on paper, following the traditional method; the average value for each treatment was then recorded. Fruit colour was assessed using a standard colour chart to determine the characteristic colour of the okra.

Yield parameters

The number of fruits per plant was recorded at each harvest by counting the total number of okra fruits obtained from five randomly selected plants in each treatment separately. This observation was taken across all pickings, and the cumulative number of fruits was divided by five to obtain the average number of fruits per plant. This method ensured a reliable estimate by minimizing plant-to-plant variation and accounting for yield over multiple harvests. Yield per area (kg/m²) was determined by harvesting okra at 10-day intervals, with a total of five harvests conducted during the cropping period. The produce from each treatment was collected and weighed separately using a weighing balance. The total yield obtained from each treatment was then converted into yield per unit area by considering the plot size. Finally, the average yield across all harvests was calculated for both drip irrigation and deep root irrigation treatments, providing a comparative assessment of productivity under different irrigation methods.

Results and Discussion

Physical Attributes

The results of the present study entitled "Performance evaluation of deep root irrigation for okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) crop" is presented in this chapter under different headings with tables, figures at appropriate places. These results are based upon enormous kind of observations collected under real ground scenarios, which resembles with farmer's conditions. The results describe in below given segments are indeed reflects, ranges as well as trends whatever could be generated from above mentioned field observations, spared over a period of 3 months and accomdating a full growing period of okra in the study area as shown in Fig. 7. The average weight of individual fruits, as shown in Table 5, was determined by weighing five randomly selected okra fruits from each treatment separately. It was observed that the average fruit weight was higher in T-3 (28 g) compared to T-2 (22 g), which may be attributed to the direct supply of water to the root zone, promoting stronger root development and improved nutrient uptake, ultimately enhancing fruit quality and yield. Similarly, fruit length was measured using a measuring tape for five sample fruits, and the average values indicated that fruits from T-3 (15.24 cm) were longer than those from T-2 (12.7 cm). Fruit diameter was also recorded by measuring the widest portion of the fruit, and the results showed a maximum diameter of 1.7 cm in T-3, while T-2 recorded a smaller diameter of 1.4 cm. The increased fruit size in deep root irrigation could be due to better water availability and enhanced metabolic activities, leading to higher cell division and accumulation of carbohydrates and proteins. Fruit colour in both treatments was assessed using a standard colour chart and was found to be bright green. In terms of yield parameters, the number of fruits per plant and yield per unit area were evaluated and summarized in Table 6. Harvesting was carried out five times at 10-day intervals after fruit maturity, and the number of fruits from five selected plants was recorded at each picking. The average number of fruits per plant was higher in T-3 The yield per area was calculated by taking average of no. of. Harvestings which was highest (0.94 kg/m2) in the treatment-3 and it is recorded in the treatment-2 was (0.81 kg/m*2). This might be because of direct application of water to the healthy root zone of okra crop without any water losses due to evaporation and runoff which affects the growth of fruits. Similarly, fruit weight was notably higher under deep root irrigation (28 g) compared to drip irrigation (22 g). Significant differences were also observed in the physical characteristics of the fruits. The maximum fruit length (15.2 cm) and diameter (1.7 cm) were recorded in T-3, while the minimum fruit length (12.7 cm) and diameter (1.4 cm) were observed in T-2. These improvements in fruit size under deep root irrigation may be attributed to better water availability at the root zone, which enhances nutrient uptake and metabolic activity. Yield parameters further indicated the superiority of deep root irrigation over drip irrigation. The maximum number of fruits per plant (21) and higher yield per area (0.94 kg/m²) were obtained under T-3, whereas drip irrigation (T-2) recorded a lower number of fruits per plant (16) and yield (0.81 kg/m²).

Overall, the findings of the study demonstrate that deep root irrigation performed better than drip irrigation in terms of growth, yield, and fruit quality parameters of okra. This improvement can be attributed to the direct and efficient delivery of water to the root zone, which promotes stronger root development, enhances water and nutrient use efficiency, and supports better plant growth. Additionally, the deep root irrigation system facilitates the formation of localized moisture zones (micro-aquifers) around the root region, ensuring sustained water availability to the crop. Therefore, deep root irrigation can be considered a more effective irrigation method for improving okra productivity under similar agro-climatic conditions.

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