Determination of Optimum Water Application Interval for Young Tea Plants
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Date
2015
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Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Tea productivity is highly vulnerable to changes in precipitation. With less availability of water for irrigation, best irrigation interval is necessary to increase water use efficiency. Therefore, a pot experiment was conducted at the Tea Research Institute, Ratnapura using one year old uniform tea plants of cultivar, TRI 2027 under controlled
environmental conditions (Max and Min temperatures, 32.1 °C and 23.1 °C,
respectively; Average sunshine hours, 3.15 hrs day-1). The experiment was laid out
according to Complete Randomized Design with four replicates. Irrigation treatments
were applied as daily watering (175 ml plant-1), watering at 4 day interval
(750 ml plant"'), watering at 7 day interval (1150 ml plant-1) and none watering
(control). Plant growth performance was evaluated during the experimental period. The
highest evapotranspiration rate (3.02 mm day was recorded at daily watering followed
by watering at 4 days interval (2.33 mm day 1). Plants watered daily showed
significantly higher plant height (51.4 cm), girth (6.1 mm), leaf dry weight (5.7 g), leaf
area (550.5 cm2), stem dry weight (3.1 g) and leaf nitrogen percentage (3.15%)
compared to control (35.3 cm, 4.1 mm, 1.33 g, 119 cm2, 1.3 g, 2.14%, respectively).
Interestingly, growth performances of plants that watered daily were not significantly deviated from plants that watered at 4 days interval. There was no significant difference in root volume and dry weight among different treatments. The results of this experiment suggests that frequent irrigation at least once in four days is important for better establishment of young tea plants. However, before drawing any firm conclusion it is suggested to continue such trials for at least three dry spells.
Key words: Climate change, Evapotranspiration, Growth, Irrigation interval, Young tea plants
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Tea Technology and Value Addition Degree Programme ( TEA)