Effect of drip irrigation and mulching on yield, water-use efficiency and economics of tomato

This study investigated the combined effects of drip irrigation and mulches on yield, water-use efficiency and economic return of tomato. The treatments of the study comprised different combinations of three drip irrigation levels (100, 75 and 50% of crop water requirement, ETc) and two mulches (black polyethylene sheet and paddy straw). The yield and yield-contributing characters in the mulched treatments for all levels of irrigation were significantly higher compared to those in the unmulched treatments. The yield of tomato increased with the increasing amount of irrigation water in unmulched treatment. The trend was reversed when drip irrigation was coupled with mulches. The highest yield for each mulch (81.12 t/ha for polyethylene and 79.49 t/ha for straw) was obtained when 50%…