Growth, Yield, Water use Efficiency and Economic benefit for Brinjal as Influenced by Drip Irrigation in Western Ganga Catchment

Abstract

This study was conducted in the College of Agriculture Sciences and Engineering, IFTM University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh (India). Drip irrigation, a relatively new technology in the world, has increased in vegetable crops. In India, eggplant, also known as brinjal, is cultivated across approximately 0.72 million hectares of land. The study included various drip irrigation treatments: T1 (1 hour every day), T2 (2 hours every two days), T3 (3 hours every three days), T4 (4 hours every four days), and T5 (Control with furrow irrigation). The findings showed that the best outcomes in terms of plant height, growth, yield, water use efficiency (WUE), benefit-cost ratio (B:C ratio), and economic returns were observed in T2, whereas T5 had the lowest values. The highest water use efficiency (WUE) was recorded in T2 at 327.29 kg/ha-mm through drip irrigation, while the lowest WUE in T5 was 169.88 kg/ha-mm through flood irrigation method. The maximum net return was obtained in treatment (T2) 163306 Rs/ha, while compared lowest net return at (T5) 101624 Rs/ha. Overall, the study underscores the significance of adopting modern irrigation technologies, particularly drip irrigation, to enhance agricultural productivity, conserve water resources, and improve the economic viability of vegetable crop cultivation, as evidenced by the superior results obtained in the treatment (T2).