Impact of irrigation on cardamom production

Abstract

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton) is generally grown as a rainfed crop and soil moisture is one of the limiting factors in augmenting the productivity of the crop (Sulikeri, 5). Irrigation in summer months is an important management factor for maintenance of yields levels (Raju, 3). For realising the yield potential of any cardamom variety it is essential to raise the crop with irrigation in summer (Sivanappan, 4). Since the roots of the cardamom are shallow, moisture at the root zone does not last long, and hence it is essential to irrigate the crop during January to May (Sivanappan, 3). Gurumurthi et al. (2) reported that plots irrigated from December 15th to February 15th yielded more than plots irrigated after February. Micro-irrigation systems help in saving more than 25-30 per cent water over conventional methods (Govindan, 6). No information is available on the influence of micro-irrigation in cardamom.