A field study was conducted for three years during rabi season of 20112014 in medium deep clay soils at experimental farm of Interfaculty Department of Irrigation Water Management, Post Graduate Institude, M.P.K.V., Rahuri, Maharashtra, India. The experiment comprised of eight treatments with three replications arranged in randomized block design. Drip fertigation (DF) with 100% RDF (recommended dose of fertilizer) recorded significantly higher yield (35.37 t/ha) over rest of the treatments. DF with 80% RDF resulted into 20% fertilizer saving and 30.3% increase in yield over surface irrigation (22.81 t/ha). The drip method used lowest water use of 429.9 mm as compared with 816.7 mm in surface irrigation method recording 47.2% water saving. It was be concluded that drip fertigation with 80% RDF in 21 weekly splits is best treatment for improved yield, yield contributing characters and water productivity of brinjal (var. Krishna) cultivated in medium deep clay soils of Western Maharashtra.
Drip fertigation, brinjal productivity, water soluble fertilizers, water use
