Comparison of Water Pillow and Drip Irrigation Systems for Tomato (Lycopersicon Esculentum Mill.) Production under Greenhouse Conditions in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey

HAKAN ALTUNLU¹; YASAR AYRANCI¹; SINAN GERCEK^2
1 Mugla University, Ortaca Polytechnic, Dalyan yolu 48600 Ortaca-Mugla, Turkey
² Erciyes University, Seyrani Agricultural Faculty, Biosystem Engineering 38900 Develi-Kayseri, Turkey

Abstract

Altunlu, H., Y. Ayranci and S. Gercek, 2017. Comparison of Water Pillow and drip irrigation systems for tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) production under greenhouse conditions in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 23 (1): 76–82

This study compared the effects of the Water Pillow (WP) irrigation method, a new alternative method to Drip Irrigation (DI), and of different irrigation interval on growth, yield and quality of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) under greenhouse conditions in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey in 2011 growing season. The treatments were as follows: (i) WP method with a 3-day irrigation interval (WP1), (ii) WP method with a 6-day irrigation interval (WP2), (iii) WP method with a 9-day irrigation interval (WP3) and (iv) Drip Irrigation (DI) method with a 3-day interval (control). There were no statistical differences in growth and yield of tomato plants between DI and WP1 treatments (P<0.05). Irrigation intervals of WP method had signifi cantly different effect in total yields and marketable yields. Maximum and minimum total yields were obtained from WP1 and WP3 treatments; 3.70 kg plant-1 and 2.8 kg plant-1, respectively. By comparing WP with DI, we concluded that the advantages of WP were maintaining the water amount in the root area by decreasing evaporative losses from the soil surface due to its mulching effect, and it also produced the same yield as DI in the greenhouse tomato production.

Key words: water pillow; drip irrigation; tomato; greenhouse; Mediterranean Region
List of abbreviations: WP – Water Pillow; DI – drip irrigation; WP1 – the subject of Water Pillow with 3 day irrigation interval; WP2 – the subject of Water Pillow with 6 day irrigation interval; WP3 – the subject of Water Pillow with 9 day irrigation interval; I – the amount of irrigation water, mm; FC – the fi eld capacity, Pw%; PWP – the permanent wilting point, Pw%; E.C. – the electricity conductivity, dS m^-1; OM – the organic matter, %; SAR – the sodium adsorption ratio, %; A – the plot area, m²; Epan – the cumulative evaporation in irrigation intervals, mm; Kp – the pan coeffi cient; LAI – the leaf area index, m² m^{2 -1}; Ir. int. – the irrigation interval, days; PH – the plant height, cm; SD – the stem diameter, mm; VPFW – vegetative part fresh weight, g; VPDW – vegetative part dry weight, g; VPDR – vegetative part dry ratio, %; RFW – the root fresh weight, g; RDW – root dry weight, g; RDR – root dry ratio, %; TY – the total yield, kg plant-1; MY – the marketable yield, kg plant^-1; UMY – the unmarketable yield, kg plant^-1; FN – the fruit number; AFW – the average fruit weight, g; 1CFR – the 1^st class fruit ratio, %; 2CFR – the 2^nd class fruit ratio, %; 3CFR – the 3^rd class fruit ratio, %; DFW – the dry fruit weight, %; TA – the titratable acidity, mval 100^-1 ml^-1; TSS – the total soluble solids, %; chl a – the chlorophyll a; chl b – the chlorophyll b; Total chl – the total chlorophyll; ns – not signifi cant

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