The study assessed the growth and yield of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in order to evaluate the performance and economic feasibility of capillary wick irrigation system. Unlike any other capillary rise-based systems that uses the matric potential of the soil to dictate the amount of water to be drawn, this system aimed to continuously supply water imitating a full-time drip irrigation system but cheaper in terms of materials and operating cost. A 5 mm-width, cotton fabric strip was used as a wick material based from the results of the preliminary testing to verify several literature claims. In order to determine number of wicks to optimally supply the water demand of lettuce, treatments namely, T1= 1 wick, T2 = 2 wicks, T3 = 3 wicks and a control treatment T4 which uses manual irrigation method, were tested and compared against each other. Significant results were in terms of the volume of water applied, and the water use efficiency in which T1 showed a better performance among other treatments. However, it does not imply that T1 had produced a supreme yield output. Instead, this can be attributed to the efficient application of irrigation water to an optimal level. This means that T1 or the use of 1 wick material minimizes irrigation water losses through evaporation and percolation. An economic analysis was performed and has resulted to a return on investment of 41.92% or 41.92% of the investment cost will be returned after three cropping, which is an attribute of the particular set-up cost of the study.
Enhancing the Growth and Yield of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in Hydroponic System Using Magnetized Irrigation Water
