Effects of planting density on the production of pepper for mechanized production operation

Abstract

As a solution to the rural shortage of labor, mechanization crop production is necessary, but in some cases, the mechanization can cause problems such as a decrease in products due to the expansion of the necessary moderate workspace. The purpose of this study was to compare the yields of pepper by the planting-density for the mechanization of pepper cultivation. Experiments were done with three planting-density levels of 900 × 300 mm(A-T), 1200 × 450 mm(B-T), and 1500 × 600 mm(C-T). In the analysis of growth, the highest values in plant height and thickness and the number of branches were observed with the B-T. C-T showed the highest values in the number of green-pepper and red-pepper and weight of the green-pepper and red-pepper, followed by B-T and A-T. In the analysis of growth, it was concluded that the proportion of the pepper body to the total length increased as the planting-density decreased. C-T had the biggest maximum diameter of the body, followed by B-T and A-T. On the other hand, A-T had the biggest minimum diameter of the body, followed by B-T and C-T. It was judged that the larger the planting-density was, the shorter the length was and the thicker the form was. As a result of measuring the chromaticity, there was no significant statistical difference in quality. Based on the experiment results, the ranking in total yields was in the order of C-T, B-T, and A-T. The reduced planting-density seemed to increase the productivity, while the labor intensity and time were reduced due to the improvement of the working environment.