Yield and economic return of drip‐irrigated vegetable production in Turkey

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted for 2 years (2004 and 2005) on sandy loam soil in south Marmara region of Turkey to study the effect of five levels of pan evaporation replenishment (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%) on marketable yield, irrigation water productivity (IWP), and economic return of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), pepper (Capsicum annuum), green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and eggplant (Solanum melongena) under a drip irrigation method. The highest mean marketable yield (2 years) of tomato (87.5 t ha⁻¹), pepper (59.2 t ha⁻¹), green bean (7.6 t ha⁻¹), and eggplant (46.5 t ha⁻¹) was recorded at 100%, 100%, 80%, 100%, and 80% of pan evaporation replenishment, respectively. The IWP of tomato (23.6 kg m⁻³), pepper (16.5 kg m⁻³), green bean (2.6 kg m⁻³), and eggplant (13.6 kg m⁻³) was the maximum at 80%, 80%, 40%, and 80% of pan evaporation replenishment, respectively. The results revealed that a further increase in irrigation amount resulting from 100% of pan evaporation replenishment did not increase the marketable yield of crops but reduced the IWP significantly. The net return increased with the increase in pan evaporation replenishment. The results revealed that the pepper is the most profitable crop, followed by tomato, eggplant, and green bean.

Keywords:

• yield performance
• water productivity
• yield‐water relationships
• economic return