Effect of Drip Irrigation Frequency, N-Fertilization, and Mulching on Yield, Nitrogen, and Water Use Efficiencies of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in Ikole-Ekiti, Nigeria

Abayomi Sunday Fasina, Olubunmi Samuel Shittu, Kayode Samuel Ogunleye, Augustus Oludotun Akinmayowa Ilori and Temitope Seun Babalola

Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2021, vol. 11, issue 02

Abstract: Soil moisture conservation, proper irrigation scheduling and nutrient management are crucial for sustainable cucumber production. A field experiment was set up over two years (2018 and 2019) to investigate the effects of irrigation frequency, black polyethylene mulching, and nitrogen fertilization on cucumber yield, water use efficiency (WUE) and nutrient use efficiency (NUE) at Ikole-Ekiti, Nigeria. The experiment was a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with a split-plot arrangement and the main plot as drip irrigation frequency: twice per week (I4), three times per week (I5), and four times per week (I6), while the sub-plots were nitrogen fertilization; (no fertilizer, N0 and 180 kg/ha urea, N180) and mulching (no mulch, NM and mulch, M). The highest yield (8.39 and 8.51 t/ha) with the best WUE was obtained from treatment I4MF (F, fertilization), while the lowest (5.81 and 5.79 t/ha) was obtained from I6MF for the respective years. The combination of variables significantly (P<0.05) influenced cucumber yield, WUE, and NUE, and significant correlations were obtained (r=0.87** and 0.85**) between WUE and fruit yield for the study years. The treatment I4MF therefore, could successfully be adopted to reduce water and fertilizer application for improved cucumber yield in the field.

Keywords: Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Land Economics/Use; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/342324/files/E ... tion%20Frequency.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ajosrd:342324

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.342324

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development from Asian Economic and Social Society (AESS) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().