Abstract

                                Paprika (Capsicum annuum var. longam) is one of the important natural food colourants gaining importance in international spice trade. Investigations were carried out in paprika (Capsicum annuum var. longam) cv. Ktpl-19 at the Department of Spices and Plantation Crops, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore to study the influence of drip fertigation on physiological traits, the experiment was conducted for two seasons viz., season I (June 2007- Jan 2008) and season II (July 2008- Feb 2009) to get the concurrent result. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design, replicated thrice with seven treatments and replicated thrice. Observations on physiological traits viz., Dry matter production (g plant-1), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Total chlorophyll content (mg g-1) and Relative water content (per cent) were taken from randomly selected plants and the data were statistically analyzed. The experiment was conducted for two seasons viz., season I (June 2007- Jan. 2008) and season II (July 2008- Feb. 2009). From the study, it was observed that the crop paprika responded well to the fertigation treatments. Application of 100 % RDF as MAP, Multi-K and SOP through drip irrigation registered the highest values for Dry matter production (134.12 g plant-1), LAI (0.73), Total chlorophyll content (2.15 mg g-1) and RWC (66.88 per cent) at harvesting stage. It was followed by the treatment T6 and T4 during both season I and season II.

Key words : Paprika, Capsicum annuum var. longam, Dry Matter Production, Leaf Area Index, Total Chlorophyll Content, Relative Water Content