Abstract

The yield enhancement in ginger, an important spice cum medicinal crop, can be obtained by scientific water management strategies. For maximizing the water productivity with reduced losses drip irrigation can be adopted along with plastic mulching. Considering the above, a field study was conducted during 2020–2021 at the Centurion University of Technology and Management (CUTM), Odisha, India under drip irrigation with plastic mulch targeting precise quantification of irrigation water requirement for ginger. There were eight treatments with different irrigation levels and plastic mulch considered in the study and laid out in randomized block design with three replications. Irrigation water requirement of the crop was determined using the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith model. Greater plant height (108.2 No.), number of tillers (13.2 No.), number of leaves (108.2 No.), number of rhizomes (10.5 No.), length of rhizomes (7.9 cm) and weight of rhizomes (433.3 g) and yield of ginger (32 t/ha) were found with the 100% irrigation water requirement along with the plastic mulch. The above results were followed by the results of the treatment irrigating with 80% of crop water requirement using drip irrigation along with plastic mulch. The study revealed that 80% of estimated irrigation water applied (267.4 mm) using drip and plastic mulch could be recommended to obtain higher productivity of ginger.