Clay pot irrigation of young coffee seedling under Pulney hills of Tamil Nadu, India

Coffee is grown as a rain fed crop at different regions in India. The economic returns of coffee cultivation are primarily dependent upon the amount, intensity and distribution of rainfall received during the growth and developmental periods. The Pulney hills situated at Tamil Nadu is receiving only 20% of the rainfall which will be received during South West monsoon and the remaining 80% of the rainfall will be received during the North East monsoon periods. Hence, North Eastern and South Western monsoon plays a very crucial role in providing precipitation in coffee growing belts of South India. Therefore, the rainfall received by South - West and North East monsoons were not sufficient for the initiation and establishment of young coffee seedlings. This was due to the prevalence of long dry spells ranging from 3 to 6 months, less water holding capacity and low infiltration rate of the soil also make coffee seedlings prone to moisture stress and it also leads into death of the young plants. At plantation management level, the initiation, pitting, planting and establishment of planted coffee are proved to be serious problems due to the moisture stress. To mitigate this problem, the only practical solution is to overcome moisture stress in soil and young coffee seedling at field conditions by maintaining sustainable moisture conditions. The clay pot irrigation technology is found to be suitable for establishment of young coffee seedlings.