Effect of partial root zone irrigation on gas exchange parameters of guava

Abstract

Guava is an important fruit crop all over the world, but water scarcity limits the production of guava. This study was conducted to investigate the gas exchange parameters like photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and leaf temperature. The experiment was carried out in guava orchard with three irrigation treatments i.e. I1-Control, I2- 100% PRD and I3-50% PRD and five varieties i.e. V1-Swetha, V2-Allahabad Safeda, V3-Hisar Safeda, V4-Lalith and V5-Thailand constituting totally fifteen reatments. Irrigation was given at weekly once. The treatment were applied before flowering and readings were taken using Portable photosynthesis system. There was significant differences between the irrigation treatments in photosynthetic rate with higher in I2V5 and lower I3V5. There was significant differences in stomatal conductance also with lower in I3- 50% PRD irrigation and higher in control. Transpiration rate was significantly lower in I3 and in Control it was higher. There was no significant difference in leaf temperature in different irrigation treatments. The use of PRD 50% reduced the photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate in guava trees.