Abstract:
Understanding the effect of temperature and water stress on growth and yield of crops, and also identifying suitable management options to sustain the productivity under different changes in the natural environment are of timely important. When temperature exceeds the optimum for biological processes, crops often respond negatively with a steep drop in net growth and yield. Higher air temperature also affects the soil temperature and soil fertility which degrades soil to sustain successful plant growth. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the effect of mulch on high temperature stress and thereby the impact on growth and yield of Chili. Chili was selected as it is widely cultivated in most of the farmer’s field in the dry zone of Sri Lanka and one of the profit making cash crops. Experiment was conducted in the temperature regulated poly tunnels with ambient temperature of 32°C, and 34°C. Coir dust, straw and saw dust were used as mulch types. Plants were watered to the field capacity level avoiding any sort of water stress conditions. Results showed that the high temperature effect on soil has minimized by the use of mulch. Even though coir dust has shown significant effect on plant height and number of leaves, plants mulched with saw dust have shown significantly higher yield compared to the other two types of mulch. Therefore these results could be used effectively in farmer’s field to minimize the effect of high temperature on growth and yield of Chili.
