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Keywords: Cucumber, Mulching, Flood irrigation, Drip irrigation, Yield
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of different mulching and irrigation techniques on the yield and its contributing attributes of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). The mulching treatments included silver black plastic, black plastic, rice straw, wheat straw and no mulch (control), while irrigation was applied through flood and drip systems. The results indicated that drip irrigation performed significantly better than flood irrigation for most of the yield contributing traits. Among various types of mulches silver black Plastic mulch and Black Plastic mulch were proved to be superior for fruit length, diameter, weight, number of fruits, total yield and marketable yield. The optimal treatment combination was drip irrigation paired with silver black plastic mulch, which significantly improved the yield and other traits. This combination led to a 22.39 per cent increase in total yield as compared to the control plots, suggesting that the combination of drip irrigation and silver black plastic mulch can be recommended for holistic improvement in fruit yield of cucumber along with its contributing traits.
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Department of Vegetable Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India