Water Use Efficiency and Yield Response of Greenhouse-Grown Tomato to Partial Root Drying and Deficit Irrigation

Water saving techniques in agriculture are gaining importance because of scarcity of water due to climate change and lower share of water for agriculture due to globalization. To overcome these challenges this research study was designed is to evaluate the effect of the partial root drying irrigation practice (PRD) and deficit irrigation (DI) practice on the, yield and water use efficiency of tomatoes (Shivam variety) grown under a greenhouse. The following irrigation treatments were formulated to study the effect of PRD and DI. The treatments were, partial root drying (PRD) at 75% and 50% crop evapotranspiration, ETc (PRD25 and PRD50, respectively), and deficit irrigation (DI) at 75% and 50% crop evapotranspiration, ETc (DI25 and DI50, respectively) and FULL Irrigation (FI). The PRD practice requires wetting oalf of the root zone and keeping the other half dry, consequently using less lied irrigation water. In successive irrigations, the wet and dry sides are alternated. The highest fruit yield was obtained under FULL irrigation (225 t ha-1).