Performance of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L) Under Drip and Micro Sprinkler Fertigation System

A field investigation was carried out at TNAU, Coimbatore, during 2015 to evaluate the performance of drip and micro sprinklers fertigation on groundnut. The experiment consisted of 11 treatments, three replications with two irrigation levels (100% and 75% PE), two fertigation levels (100% and 75% RDF), two irrigation systems (drip and micro sprinkler) and one surface irrigation with soil application of recommended doses of fertilizer (RDF). The use of drip and micro sprinkler system offers a great degree of control over water and fertilizer application (fertigation), which helps to meet the requirement of crops. The analysis of the data of moisture content was done before and after irrigation and soil moisture contour maps for longitudinal cross section of the soil moisture were plotted by using software ‘SURFER’. It was observed that under drip and micro irrigation, the moisture content was near to the field capacity with little fluctuation in between before and after irrigation whereas, under surface irrigation from 48 hours after irrigation, there was sharp decline in soil moisture content with time. Significantly higher plant height (15.72, 30.61, 39.20 and 40.17 cm), leaf area index (LAI) (1.85, 2.95, 3.86 and 3.42) and dry weight per plant (7.09, 19.28, 26.55 and 27.48 g) were recorded at (30, 60, 90 days after sowing (DAS) and harvest, respectively) and pod yield (3495 kg ha-1) under drip irrigation at 100% PE with fertigation at 100% RDF with WSF, as compared to all other treatments and lowest under surface irrigation.