Impact of temperature and rainfall on production and productivity of coconut

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to assess the impact of Integrated Nutrient Management technology on the productivity of coconut based cropping system. The coefficient of rainfall of 0.758 indicates a strong positive relationship between the annual mean rainfall and the nut yield of coconut. The regression analysis revealed that the rainfall pattern over the experimental years accounts 57.5 per cent of variability in coconut yield. The study indicated that rainfall shares the larger portion of the coconut yield variation than temperature. Economic assessment of the coconut based cropping system revealed that the highest net returns of Rs. 334064/ha was recorded in T1 (75% of recommended NPK + 25% of N through organic recycling with vermicompost) followed by application of 50% of recommended NPK + 50% through organic (T2) and fully organic treatment (T3). The monocrop of coconut recorded the lowest net returns (Rs.107120/ha). The system productivity with respect to nut equivalent yield in coconut based cropping system was 28422 nuts/ha, whereas lower productivity of 14005 nuts/ha was recorded in monocrop.