Water requirement and yield of carrot, tomato and onion as winter vegetables in bangladesh

Abstract

Field experiment was carried out for the determination of optimum soil moisture regimes and water requirement for achieving the maximum yield potential of carrot, tomato, and onion crops on a clayey terrace soil of Bangladesh. Irrigation had positive impact on increasing yield of all the three crops. Highest water use efficiency of carrot (3471 kg/ha/cm), tomato (1970 kg/ha/cm), and onion (636 kg/ha/cm) were obtained under 60%, 40%, and 20% depletion of soil available water, respectively. Yields of the corresponding crops under those treatments were 35.4, 37.0, and 12.2 Mg/ha, having the total water use of 102.0, 187.8, and 191.7 mm. Carrot cultivation was found to be more profitable than tomato and onion from the view point of water use and yield. Water requirement of carrot was approximately 54% of those of tomato and onion. Besides the higher water requirement, the costs involved in cultural practices and the susceptibility to insects and diseases might make tomato cultivation less competitive. Comparatively low yield and higher water requirement of onion do not make it suitable for this soil.