ABSTRACT
The present experiment was planned to study the effects of different levels of irrigation on growth and yield of drip irrigated banana under mulch and non-mulch conditions. The drip irrigation is economical and cost effective when compared with conventional basin irrigation. The use of drip either alone or with mulch can increase the yield of banana significantly over basin irrigation to the tune of 52". To irrigate one hectare of banana crop with drip irrigation, 800 mm of water will be needed for sub-humid agro-climatic conditions of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Water is becoming scarcer for irrigation in the state. Because of rapid industrialization and urbanization, water demand in non-agricultural sector is increasing day-by-day which compels share of water to agriculture sector to dwindle. Hence, it is imperative to adopt micro irrigation to save irrigation water and to enhance the water productivity.
