Effect of Irrigation and Levels of Nitrogen on Herb and Oil Yield of Geranium (<i>Pelargonium</i>sp.) under Semiarid Tropical India

Abstract

ABSTRACT The effect of irrigation given at various cumulative pan-evaporation levels (CPE) (50, 75 and 100 mm) and three depths of irrigation water (IW) (20, 30 and 40 mm per irrigation) in Bangalore was studied. The irrigation at four IW/CPE ratios (1.0, 0.50, 0.30 and 0.25 mm, with 30 mm depth of irrigation water) and three nitrogen levels (0, 100 and 200 kg N/ha/year) was also studied. Results revealed that irrigation at 50 mm CPE with 30 mm depth of irrigation gave the optimum herb and oil yield and the other experiment showed that geranium has to be irrigated at 0.50 IW/CPE ratio and supplied with 100 kg N/ha/year for achieving high yields. Content and quality of oil were not affected by irrigation and levels of nitrogen.