Effects of treated greywater irrigation regimes and mulches on yield of Capsicum chinense under surface drip irrigation system

Abstract

A field study was conducted to determine the effects of combine treatment of greywater application rates and mulches types on growth and yield of Capsicum chinense in Omu-Aran, Nigeria. Greywater (GW) was treated using a pilot-scale horizontal sub-surface flow constructed wetlands (HSSF CW) vegetated with Canna indica plants. Four irrigation levels (60, 80, 100 and 120% of ETc) and four mulches types (Black plastic film BM, Silver plastic film SM, Rice straw RS and un-mulched Control) were applied to the potted plants. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design, with main plots as irrigation levels and mulches types as sub-plots. C. indica plants were found to be effective in GW Phytoremediation treatment in CW. The maximum fruit yield was observed for T10 (I100SM) 4666.70 kg/ha due to reflective mulch ability to increase light and heat to plant resulting to a higher yield. Significant difference was observed between the mean yield of I60 and other irrigation regimes, whereas between I80 to I120 there was no significant difference in mean yield recorded. Silver mulch combined with full irrigation with treated greywater effluent was found to be the best of all treatments in the study.