Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges & Opportunities
during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
Under non-mulched treatment, the mean morning soil temperatures varied from 14.3°C (P 4 )
to16.1°C (P1), while the evening soil temperature ranged from 23.3 (P2) to 25.9°C (P1 ) under
different dates of planting. Irrespective of dates of planting the mean weekly temperatures were
the highest under black polythene with mean values of 16.3°C and 27.2°Cin morning and
evening, respectively, whereas, the lowest morning temperature was observed under nonmulched
(with a mean value of 15.1°C) condition, but the lowest evening temperature was
recorded under straw mulch (22.2°C).
Deviation of weekly morning and evening soil temperatures under rice straw mulch and black
polythene from the soil temperatures under non-mulched treatment were calculated and
presented in Fig. 2. The weekly morning soil temperatures under both rice straw (M1) and
black polythene mulch were higher by 0.54 (P3) to 0.63°C (P1) and 1.07 (P2) to 1.63°C (P1),
respectively as compared to the non-mulched treatment. On the other hand, the weekly evening
soil temperature was reduced by 1.02 (P1) to 1.18 °C (P2) under rice straw mulch (M1) but
increased by 1.9 (P2) to 2.47 °C (P1) under black polythene mulch (M2) irrespective of planting
dates.
Fruit yield of Tomato:
The fruit yield of tomato cultivar Arka Rakshak planted under different planting dates and
mulching treatments ranged between 76.6 and 392.6 q ha -1 with an overall mean of 234.9 q ha -1 ,
irrespective of planting dates and mulching treatments, however, varied significantly under
different dates of planting and mulching treatments. The highest and lowest fruit yield was
recorded under the second and last date of planting with average yields of 137.3 and 99.9 q ha -
1 , respectively. The highest fruit yield was recorded under the second date of planting (P2) with
an average yield of 337.3 q ha -1 , which reduced gradually by 49.9 and 70.4 percent under the
P3 and P4, respectively. The fruit yield in the case of crop planting on 25th October was also
reduced by 3.3 as compared to P2. Among the mulching treatments, the highest fruit yield was
recorded under black polythene (267.9 q ha -1 ), followed by rice straw mulch (234.2 q ha -1 ) and
non-mulched treatment (173.7 q ha -1 ).
The highest fruit yield in P 2 could be attributed to the occurrence of a favorable thermal
environment resulting in better crop growth with higher yield attributing characters. In the case
of late plantings (beyond 14 November), the period of the harvest was reduced considerably
due to exposure of the harvesting stage of the crop to comparatively higher soil and air
temperature resulting in poor fruit yield on later dates (P3 and P4). Despite experiencing a
longer harvest period, exposure of the early growth period to the higher soil and air
temperatures forced the crop to enter into the reproductive stage in advance with lower LAI
and biomass, which caused a reduction of fruit yield in the first date of planting as compared to
P 2. It is to be mentioned that fruiting and fruit maturity stages of the crop planted on the first
204 | Page
Ecosystem based approaches for climate change adaptation, ecosystem services, integrated farming system models, Land
degradation neutrality