Growth and yield of apple influenced by different irrigation levels at various phenological stages using drip irrigation system in north Himalayan region of India

Increased world population mandates a more efficient use of land and water resources for agriculture. A very high percentage of orchards in Jammu and Kashmir state (India) are bereft of any irrigation facilities and because water is not available to the plants during their critical stages of growth, it leading to poor yield and fruit quality. Therefore, there is a need to shift to high-density plantation with the installation of a drip irrigation system. An experiment was performed on five-year old apple ‘Super Chief Sandidge’ to study the effect of different levels of irrigation at different phenological stages on vegetative growth and yield of apple for the year 2017 and 2018. Thirteen different treatments were given which comprised of three different levels of irrigation which were applied at four different phenological stages along with a control [only rain-fed]. Overall results indicated that level of irrigation as well as the plant developmental stage has a significant impact on growth and yield of plant. A comparison of data on overall vegetative growth reveal that drip irrigation at 100% ETc increased the plant girth by about 56%, TCSA by 68%, plant height by 61%, leaf area by 60% and annual shoot growth by 27% over rain-fed conditions. An overall of 100% increase in vegetative characteristics was recorded when compared to rain-fed conditions. Both yield and yield efficiency substantially increased under drip irrigation compared to rain-fed conditions. The irrigation at flowering and fruit set can have significant impact on vegetative growth and irrigation at fruit growth stage had appreciable influence on yield of apple crop.