Impact of Combined Application Irrigation and Mulching on Soil and Leaf Nutrient Dynamics, Mango Yield and Quality

Abstract

Soil moisture and nutrients are crucial for agricultural productivity, especially in arid and semiarid regions where they limit crop growth. To address the present problem a two-year field experiment (2017–19) evaluated the combined effects of drip irrigation (75% and 100% ETc) and mulching (with/without 100-µm silver polyethylene) on mango cv. Banganpalli in red sandy loam soil of Southern Telangana (16°30'N, 78°19'E; 550 m MSL). A 2×2 factorial randomized block design with five replications was employed. The 100% ETc + mulching treatment recorded the highest soil moisture (13.4–16.6% across BBCH-510 to BBCH-709), available soil N (222–315 kg ha⁻¹), leaf NPK (N: 0.82–1.11%, P: 0.19–0.22%, K: 0.74–0.91%), and fruit yield (89.11 kg tree⁻¹)—35.83% higher than 75% ETc without mulching. It also maximized internal O₂, minimized CO₂, delayed chlorophyll degradation (DA-index: 0.96–0.55 over 9 days storage), and extended shelf life to 13.73 days. Fertilizer use efficiency peaked at 89.11 kg kg⁻¹ under this treatment due to reduced nutrient leaching and enhanced uptake. Notably, 75% ETc + mulching yielded comparably to 100% ETc without mulching (75.78 vs. 75.18 kg tree⁻¹) while achieving 25% water savings and the highest water use efficiency (WUE). Results from present study suggested that the drip irrigation and mulching optimize resource efficiency and fruit quality under water-limited semi-arid conditions. The 75% ETc + mulching regime is recommended as a sustainable, high-yielding strategy for mango orchards.