Abstract

An experiment was conducted in Raichur, Karnataka state in India during the period October 2014 to January, 2015 to determine the effect of drip irrigation levels on carrot yield and water use efficiency. Four drip irrigation levels namely T1, T2, T3 and T4 were applied equivalent to an ET level of 60, 80, 100 and 120 percent respectively; and a fifth level under surface method T5 was applied as a control. Significant differences were observed in plant height, leaf area index, root length, root diameter and yield. No significant differences were observed in number of leaves per plant, root core diameter and TSS. The highest yield of 52.36 t/ha was obtained in T2 and the lowest yield of 33.06 t/ha was obtained in T5. Water use efficiency was highest in T1 with a value of 15.4 kg/m3 and lowest in T5 as 5.2 kg/m3. The control treatment showed lowest figures in all measured growth and quality parameters except TSS. It was concluded that carrot performs better under drip irrigation level of 80 percent ET than the other drip levels and surface irrigation.