Dynamics of Nitrogen under Sub Surface Drip Fertigation System on Banana cv. Rasthali

M. Yuvaraj; P. P. Mahendran

M. Yuvaraj Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Adhiparasakthi Agricultural College, Kalavai-Vellore, India.
P. P. Mahendran Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, India.

Keywords: Subsurface drip fertigation, nutrient mobility, nitrogen, banana

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) is needed for all growth processes, as it is the major component of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, enzymes and the green pigment chlorophyll. Chlorophyll converts sunlight energy into plant energy in the form of sugars and carbohydrates. The sub surface drip fertigation is a technique to apply both water and fertilizers through drip irrigation system during the recent years were shown to be very effective in achieving higher water and fertilizer use efficiencies. The nutrient mobility study revealed that fertigation treatments maintained higher concentration of available nitrogen around root zone of banana compared to surface irrigation with soil application of recommended dose of fertilizers where most of the nutrients moved to deeper layer due to leaching fraction of applied fertilizers. In general, subsurface drip fertigation of 100 per cent RDF treatments in combination with liquid biofertilizers maintained higher available NPK in the post-harvest soil compared to surface irrigation with soil application of recommended dose of fertilizers. Further, drip fertigation integrated with liquid biofertilizers created favorable condition for multiplication of beneficial micro-organisms in the rhizosphere region.