Kumar et al.

it offers the most practical and effective alternative

enhanced fertility management, reduced water and

to regular surface irrigation (Singh et al. , 2013). An

energy use, and increased yield. Heermann (1996)

extensive outline for drip irrigation was presented

did research on irrigation scheduling on tomato

by Camp in 1998. He concluded that “Drip irrigation

cultivation. They defined irrigation scheduling as

provides a more efficient delivery system, but the

the science of specifying future irrigation timing

realizationofthisincreasedapplicationefficiencywill

and amount in the implementation of a water

depend upon how well the application is matched

management strategy. S. Lakshmi (1997) to observe

to crop water and nutrient requirements”. Judicious

the vegetables crop yield capacity with different

use of the available water resources through drip

levels of fertigation of nitrogen, phosphorous

irrigation under conditions of protected cultivation

and potassium. He recommended that nitrogen

becomes necessary to enhance the yield and water

phosphorus and potassium should be used at the rate

use efficiency. Water management by drip irrigation

of 75 kg/ha and 60 kg/ha and 60 kg/ha respectively

provides daily requirement of water to a portion of

for maximum yield.

the root zone of each plant, and maintains a high soil

In the present study, irrigation in tomato cropping

matric potential in the rhizosphere to reduce plant

is controlled by using the drip irrigation method.

water stress (Afolayan et al. , 2014, Kennedy et al. ,

Tomato is the second most important vegetable

2013, Nakayama and Bucks 1986, Wan et al. , 2013).

crop next to potato. World production of tomato is

Irrigating agricultural field with drip irrigation

about 152.9 million ton with a value $74.1 billion

technique has many advantages. For example,

(FAOSTAT, 2009). India stands second in the world

adopting this technique will utilize every drop of

in terms of tomato production of 16.82 million ton

water economically. Further, as water is applied only

(IHD, 2012). The tomato is botanically known as

in plant root zone, leaching is minimum and hence,

Lycopersicum esculentum and it belongs to the

fertilizer/nutrient loss can also be minimized using

Solanacae family. The fruits are harvested as red

drip irrigation as compared to other techniques of

for consumption. Tomato is a rapidly growing crop

irrigation. Growth of weeds can also be controlled

with a growing period of 90 to 150 days. Optimum

as no water is available in there root zone. Moreover,

mean daily temperature for growth is 18 to 25ºC with

once the system is installed in the field, operational

night temperatures between 10 and 20ºC. Fereres

cost will be low for the next subsequent cropping

et al. , (2003) and de Aguiar et al. , (2014) worked on

seasons. Soil erosion can also be controlled because

the irrigation management in processing tomato

the lateral movement of water is only limited within

production. He concluded that successful irrigation

the root zone of the crop. As far as constraint on

management is very important in maximizing plant

topology of the field is concerned, this technique is

productivity; where water is limiting, yield and

best because irrigation through drip can be provided

quality of agricultural crops can be greatly affected.

to irregular shaped land also (Kumar and Singh

2014). Thus, leveling of field before irrigation is not

Fertigation is the application of fertilizers, soil

necessary. Also, if drip irrigation is properly used in

amendments, or other water-soluble products

thefield,seedgerminationwillimprove.Furthermore,

through an irrigation system. Fertigation is a more

energy cost can be reduced as it can operate on lower

efficient and effective way to fertilize the crops,

pressure than other irrigation methods. Thus, yield

saving time and money and improving yields.

of crops can be maximized using this technique.

Good results can be achieved by using a ‘little

Researchers like Al-Ghobari (2014), Kuscu et al. ,

and often’ principle to enhance plant growth and

(2014), Noshadi et al. , (2014) and Fontes et al. , (2014)

also its health along with more dry matter per

worked extensively on drip irrigation and identified

unit wet mass of crop. Fertigation involves mixing

some of the major advantages of drip irrigation such

the fertilizer in the irrigation water by suitable

as: reduced tillage, reduced weed control inputs,

arrangement. To ensure uniform distribution of

12