Effect of mulching and irrigation interval on fruit quality and yield of litchi cv. Dehradun

Abstract

A study was conducted at the Research Farm, Division of Fruit Science, FOA Udheywalla, SKUAST, Jammu on 20-year-old trees of litchi cv. Dehradun. Trees were subjected to mulching with different types of materials (black polythene and paddy straw) and supplied with controlled irrigations @ 200 l/ tree at 3, 6 and 9 day intervals. Results revealed that the trees supplied with irrigation at 6 day interval and mulched with black polythene (T8) showed least fruit cracking (10.15%) and maximum fruit yield (59.33 kg/tree). Fruit weight (18.27 g), fruit length (3.28 cm), fruit diameter (2.92 cm), pulp weight (10.45 g) and fruit firmness (2.51 kg/cm2) were also found to be maximum in trees mulched with black polythene and irrigated at 6 day interval with highest benefit: cost ratio (2.77:1).