Maximizing potato yield and water use efficiency: stage-based irrigation scheduling with organic inputs in north eastern India

Abstract

Potato is one of the most important food crops grown in the north-eastern hilly terrain especially during rabi season. The cropping system of most of the states under northeastern region of India is paddy-potato based. Potato also enjoys a special place in the dietary food habits of the people in the region. Potato is highly sensitive to water stress and since it is being cultivated mostly during the rabi season, it is of utmost importance for water management through irrigation scheduling techniques for better potato production. A field experiment was taken up to study the performance of potato (Kufri megha var.) under four critical stages, viz., sprouting (S ); sprouting + stolonisation 1 (S ); sprouting + stolonisation + tuber initiation (S ) and sprouting + stolonisation + 2 3 tuber initiation + tuber bulking (S ), based irrigation scheduling during 2018-19 at the 4 experimental farm of College of Agriculture, Kyrdemkulai, Meghalaya. Irrigated potato during stolonisation, and tuberisation (S ) performed better (17.52 t ha-1) over 2 others. The amount of water used was 140, 206, 345 and 575 mm for S , S , S and S 1 2 3 4 treatment, respectively. Tuber yield was found to be significantly higher under S 2 (17.52 t ha-1) followed by S (16.62 t ha-1) and S (16.26 t ha-1), whereas, S (14.87 t ha-1) 4 1 3 recorded the lowest yield. Organic manure treatments yielded significant results. M2 (17.77 t ha-1) showed the highest tuber yield closely followed by M (13.94 t ha-1) and 1 the lowest yield was reported by M (10.22 t ha-1). Considering S stage as base, the 0 2 comparative water saving over S and S treatment are 67.5 and 179.13%, respectively. 3 4 Therefore, the S treatment (Irrigation at sprouting and stolonization) and M treatment 2 2 (poultry manure) showed the best result under hilly terrain of north-eastern India where winter irrigation is a major concern to ensure a better yield. There is a huge scope of further research to discover more economical methods for management of irrigation water for the post rainy season crop in the hilly terrain.