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Dry Matter Production and Nutrient Uptake of Coloured Capsicum Hybrids (Capsicum annuum var. grossum L.) as Influenced by Different Irrigation Levels under Shade Net

Aim: The experiment was aimed at evaluating the influence of different irrigation levels on dry matter production and nutrient uptake of coloured capsicum hybrids. 
Study Design:  Split plot design with three replications 
Place and Duration of Study: Horticultural farm, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad during rabi 2018-19. 
Methodology: The experiment was laid out in split plot design and the treatments comprises of four irrigation levels viz., drip irrigation at 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 Epan as main treatments and three hybrids viz., Indra (green), Orobelle (yellow), Bomby (red) as sub treatments and replicated thrice. The recommended dose of nutrients were 100:80:60 N, P2O5 and K2O kg ha-1 and entire dose of P2O5 was applied as basal, N and K2O was applied through venturi meter as fertigation on three days interval from 9 to 153 DAT. The crop was transplanted at 45 cm × 40 cm spacing in September under a green shade net. Irrigation scheduling was done based on daily evaporation data recorded from USWB class ‘A’ pan evaporimeter. The cumulative daily evaporation during crop growth period was 737.5 mm. Quantity of water applied including special operations of 26 mm and effective rainfall during crop growth period were 245.3, 392.0, 546.5 and 698.5 mm and 58.6, 64.2, 74.6, 82.6 mm out of 127.4 mm of rainfall for 100, 80, 60 and 40 per cent irrigation treatments, respectively as per water balance method. Bed size was 7.6 m × 0.9 m. 
Results: Significantly higher yield (47.50 t ha-1) was recorded with drip irrigation at 1.0 Epan than rest of the treatments. Indra recorded significantly higher yield (40.27 t ha-1) than other two hybrids. The interaction effect between drip irrigation levels and hybrids was not significant on Dry Matter Production and N, P & K uptakes and economics of capsicum. DMP and nutrient uptake were significantly higher with drip irrigation at 1.0 Epan than 0.8, 0.6 and 0.4 Epan throughout the crop growth over other drip irrigation levels. Among hybrids, Indra recorded significantly higher DMP and nutrient uptake than other two hybrids.


INTRODUCTION
Capsicum is also known as bell pepper or sweet pepper and Shimla mirch which is a cool season tropical crop belongs to the family Solanaceae, and is native of South and Central America. Fruits of Shimla mirch are large (usually bell shaped; hence called bell pepper) and nonpungent (hence also called sweet pepper). The term Shimla mirch originated because probably it was first cultivated in Shimla region (temperate climate), which was suitable for its cultivation. It attained a status of high value crop in India in recent years, occupying an area of 46 thousand hectares, producing 327 thousand metric tons. The major capsicum producing states in India are Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Uttarkhand and Orissa. In Telangana it occupies an area of 0.52 thousand hectares, producing 6.63 thousand tonnes [1].
Capsicum varieties may occur in many shapes and colours. Capsaicin is the main chemical content in sweet pepper. It is rich in carbohydrates, Vitamin A (8493 IU), Vitamin C (283 mg) and minerals like Calcium (13.4 mg), Magnesium (14.9 mg) Phosphorus (28.3 mg) and Potassium, (263.7 mg) per 100 g fresh weight.
The mature fruits (green, red and yellow) of sweet pepper are eaten raw or widely used in stuffing's, baking's, pizza, burger preparations, spices and as external medicine. Red bell pepper containS 1.5 times more vitamin C, 8 times more vitamin A and 11 times more beta carotene than green bell peppers. Yellow bell peppers have more vitamin C than green ones, but less vitamin A and beta carotene (Jessy, 2012). The high market price it fetches is attributed to the heavy demand from the urban consumers and for export which needs fruits with longer shelf life, medium size tetra lobed fruits with attractive colour, mild pungency with good taste. However, the supply is inadequate due to the low productivity of the crop [2]. The target can be achieved by bringing additional area under capsicum crop using hybrid seeds, improved agro techniques, perfection and promotion of protected cultivation of vegetables.
Rational use of irrigation water is important for increasing productivity which influences dry matter production (DMP), high nutrient uptake and also save irrigation water, which is costly and a scarce resource. This can be achieved by advanced method of irrigation like micro irrigation systems particularly, drip method which is most efficient coupled with other improved water management practices.
Capsicum under drip irrigation with higher level of irrigation provides excellent results in term of growth and yield [3]. The drip irrigation adoption increases water use efficiency (60-200%), saves water (20-60%), reduces fertilization requirement (20-33%) through fertigation, produces better quality crop and increases yield (7-25%) as compared with conventional irrigation [4]. Thus, we discuss about various treatments using drip irrigation under shade net and treatment producing high dry matter production and nutrient uptake of nutrients.

Characterization of Experimental Site
The experiment was carried out at Horticultural farm, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad in a shade net during rabi season, 2018-2019. The farm is geographically situated in the Southern Telangana Zone at 17°19'11" N latitude and 78°24'58" E longitude at an altitude of 542.3 m above mean sea level.

Treatments, Agronomic Management and Statistical Design
The experiment was conducted in split plot design with 12 treatments and replicated thrice, The entire dose of phosphorus was applied to soil as basal whereas nitrogen and potassium were applied through fertigation at 3 days interval through venturi system. Coloured capsicum hybrids were Indra (green), Orobelle (yellow), Bomby (red). Shade net colour was green with 50% shade and tape type was used. Gross plot size, lateral spacing, emitter spacing and drip discharge rate were 7.6 m x 0.9 m, 0.6 m, 0.4 m and 4 L h -1 , respectively. Plants were planted in zig-zag manner on the bed. The three plants used for leaf area index (LAI) were uprooted carefully at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 178 days after transplanting (DAT) and roots were removed from basal portions. The fruits were collected at 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , 4 th and 5 th pickings. Both samples were first air dried in shade for one day and then oven dried at 60 0 C till a constant weight was obtained. The mean dry weight of plant samples and dry fruit samples were expressed as kg ha -1 . Uptake of N, P and K was calculated using nutrient concentrations and dry matter yield or fruit yield as expressed by multiplying nutrient content and dry matter divided by 100.

Total Dry Matter Production (kg ha -1 )
Total DMP at various crop growth DAT was significantly influenced by different drip irrigation levels and hybrids (

Nutrient Uptake
Significant variation in NPK uptake was observed due to different drip irrigation levels and hybrids. However, there was no interaction effect between drip irrigation levels and hybrids on these parameters (Table 2, 3 and 4).

Nitrogen (N) uptake (kg ha -1 )
At 30 DAT, nitrogen uptake at drip irrigation at 1.0 Epan (0.94 kg ha -1 ) recorded significantly higher than rest of the treatments. Drip irrigation at 0.6 Epan (0.84 kg ha -1 ) was on par with drip irrigation at 0.4 Epan. However lower nitrogen uptake was noticed with 0.4 (0.83 kg ha -1 ) and 0.

Potassium (K) uptake (kg ha -1 )
Significantly higher K uptake was recorded at 30, 60, 120 and 178 with drip irrigation at 1.0 Epan At 60, 90, 120 and 178 DAT, potassium uptake not significantly influenced by hybrids and at 30 DAT, Indra recorded significantly higher potassium uptake than other two hybrids. Significantly lower potassium uptake was recorded with Bomby (0.26 kg ha -1 ) than Indra (0.32 kg ha -1 ) and was on par with Orobelle (0.27 kg ha -1 ).