56 Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 87 (1): 56–61, January 2017/Article Response of pomegranate (Punica granatum) to drip irrigation system in light textured soils of semi-arid regions R A MARATHE 1 , K DHINESH BABU 2 and D T CHAUDHARI 3 ICAR - National Research Centre on Pomegranate, Solapur, Maharashtra 413 255 Received: 25 June 2016; Accepted: 31 July 2016 ABSTRACT The study was designed to evaluate numbers and different arrangements of emitters under surface drip irrigation system in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cv. Bhagwa orchard grown on light textured soil. A field experiment was conducted at National Research Centre on Pomegranate, Solapur for three consecutive years (2010 to 2013). The treatments consisted of irrigation with 2 online emitters (8 lph) on single lateral (T 1 ), 3 online emitters (4 lph) on single lateral (T 2 ), 4 emitters (4 lph), 2 online, 2 through microtube on single lateral placed on four sides of plant (T 3 ), 6 emitters (2 lph) on double laterals placed 50 cm apart on both side of plants (T 4 ) and inline lateral having 8 emitters (2 lph) placed in the form of ring encircling the plant (T 5 ). Experiment was laid out in randomized block design with four replications. Equal quantity of irrigation equivalent to 0.80 E. Pan was applied on every alternate day. The results revealed that irrigation with 6 emitters (2 lph) on double laterals placed 50 cm apart on both sides of plants provide higher and uniform distribution of water in the root zone of the plants, resulted in better nutrient uptake, growth and yield performance of pomegranate plants. Highest leaf content of N (2.36%) and P (0.17%) was observed in this treatment which reflected in highest increase in plant height (20.4%) and plant spread (22.7%) producing highest yield in terms of numbers (36.1) and weight (6.889 kg) of fruits/plant. Plants irrigated with inline lateral having 8 emitters (2 lph) placed in the form of ring encircling the plant recorded highest leaf chlorophyll content (57.2) and maintained cool plant canopy as indicated by lowest leaf temperature during all the fruiting months. Flowering intensity was high in the plants irrigated with 2 dripper (8 lph) on one lateral system but it does not reflected in producing fruit yield due to limited wetting zone inducing moisture stress to the plants as indicated by highest fruit cracking (11.1%) in this system. It can be concluded that irrigation with 6 emitters (2 lph) fixed on two laterals placed on both sides of plants 50 cm away from the trunk along the rows system should be provided to pomegranate grown on light textured soils of semi-arid regions. Key words: Chlorophyll, Drip irrigation, Fruit yield, Nutrient uptake, Plant growth, Pomegranate, Water distribution pattern Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivation is successful in arid eco-system as it can withstand the hostile agro-climate and adverse soil conditions prevailing in this ecosystem. In India, during last two decades, pomegranate cultivation has registered a high growth and reached to 1.31 lakh ha with an annual production of 13.45 lakh tonnes. Majority of the pomegranate cultivation is on undulating, shallow and light textured soils where water scarcity is a major constraint (Marathe et al. 2006). Hence, it is imperative to adopt holistic strategies to harvest more crop per drop of water by developing irrigation techniques that guarantee maximum efficiency of water. Long back, Badizadegan (1975) reported that pomegranate can tolerate very dry conditions but for optimum plant growth and quality fruit production, irrigation is most essential. In majority of the orchards, irrigation is being provided using drip system of irrigation with two emitters paced on both sides of the plants along the rows. Wetting zone in this system is hardly 30 to 40% of pomegranate tree basin, which required higher soil moisture especially during the period of fruit maturity. In drip irrigation system, arrangement or placement of emitters plays important role to ensure maximum wetting zone and uniform moisture distribution within the tree’s root zone (Shirgure and Srivastava 2015). Any method of surface drip irrigation, capable of replenishing the evapo-transpiration demand of the plant, and simultaneously keeping the soil moisture within the desired limit, would ensure a production sustainability of the orchards besides enhancing the orchard’s productive life (Capra and Nicosia 1987). There are few studies on irrigation requirement in pomegranate (Lawande and Patil 1994, Haneef et al. 2014). But work related to arrangement of emitters is very meagre. 1 Principal Scientist (Soil Science) (e mail: ramarathe28@ gmail.com). Present address: Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur. 2 Principal Scientist (Horticulture) (e mail: ckdhinesh@ gmail.com), 3 Senior Technical Assistant (e mail: dinkartc@gmail. com). https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v87i1.67020