Vol. 14, Issue 4 (2025)

Author(s):
Rosine Uwase, Georgie Mutuyimana, Meiyappan Valliammai, Eric Derrick Bugenimana and Augustin Nsengimana

Abstract:
Soil moisture management is crucial for efficient irrigation, especially in arid and semi-arid regions where water resources are limited. Mulching under drip irrigation has been shown to improve water use efficiency and crop yields. This study evaluated the impact of soil moisture distribution and wetting patterns with mulching under drip irrigation in bitter gourd cultivation. Experiments were carried out at the precision farming development centre, the field of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. Factorial Randomized Block Design was used to set up the trials with three mulching levels (25 µm, 50 µm, and no mulch) and three irrigation levels (100%, 80%, and 60% of ET). Soil moisture content dropped as one moved further away from the emitter, and this trend was also observed in treatments without mulching. In terms of the behavior of moisture at various stages of plant development, the percentage of soil moisture content was comparatively higher at 30 and 120 DAS in both depths of 0-15cm and 15-30cm, as well as from 0 to 40cm distance from the emitter. We found that treatments without mulching moved the wetting front in a horizontal orientation more quickly than treatments with mulching. In treatments with mulching of 25 microns and 50 microns thickness compared to treatments without mulching, the wetting front advanced in a vertical orientation more quickly relative to the horizontal wet zone radius. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of mulching in conserving soil moisture, promoting vertical water infiltration, and potentially enhancing water use efficiency in bitter gourd cultivation under drip irrigation.