An Efficient Irrigation System for Plasticulture of Strawberry in Bangladesh

Abstract

Plasticulture technique is a commonly used technique for advanced strawberry production. Due to high cost and tough maintenance, this technique is not practiced commercially in Bangladesh. We have found that, if the irrigation system can be switched to a cheaper one with high efficiency, then the cost can be minimized. We applied Micro-drip mediated irrigation system to minimize the cost. Our proposed modification of plasticulture using micro-drip irrigation system was outstanding in all our concerned horticultural parameters like height of the plants, number of leaves, north-south spreading, and east-west spreading of the plants. Paired Samples analysis between conventional and plasticulture procedure, test of significance for the pairs of mean, analysis of variance and LSD test at 5% level of significance were done for statistical analysis to conclude the  result. The statistical analysis has also shown that the plasticulture method proposed by us was highly significant over the conventional technique and practical for the rural farmer of Bangladesh. It reduces the production costs, improves fruit quality and yield, and reduces the need for chemical pesticides.

Keywords: Micro drip irrigation, Soil solarization, Mulching, and Fruit Quality