Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2019) 8(9): 2793- 2800 2793 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.809.322 Effect of Drip Fertigation with Different Fertilizer Levels and Traditional Method of Fertilizer Application on Growth and Yield of Brinjal Mayur P. Adawadkar*, Mahendra M. Deshmukh and Sudhir B. Wadatkar Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Dr. PDKV, Akola, India *Corresponding author: ABSTRACT Introduction Brinjal or eggplant or aubergine (Solanum melongena L.) belongs to family Solanaceae and is one of the most common and popular vegetable crop grown in Ind ia and other parts of the world. Brinjal is a staple vegetable in our diet. It is liked both by poor and rich people. It is quite high in nutritive value and can be compared with tomato. It contains 92.7 % water, 1.4 % protein, 4.0 % carbohydrates, 0.3 % fats, 0.3% minerals, 1.3 % fibre (Aykroyd, 1963). India is leading country next to China in the production of brinjal. Area and production of brinjal in India during 2015-16 was 662.54 thousand hectares and 12510 thousand MT, respectively; with the productivity of 17.07 MT/ha. Whereas, in Maharashtra the area and production of brinjal was 21.09 thousand hectares and 407.64 thousand MT, respectively; with the productivity of 19.33 MT/ha. (National Horticultural Board Database, 2017). Drip irrigation has proved its superiority over other methods of irrigation A field experiment was conducted to study the comparison of brinjal production under drip fertigation and traditional method of fertilizer application, at Dr. PDKV, Akola during November 2017 to May 2018. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with five treatments which includes four drip fertigation levels (75, 100, 125, and 150 % of RDF) and control treatment of traditional fertilization at 100 % RDF and these all treatments are replicated four times. The study indicated higher plant growth, more number of branches, higher number of fruits per plant and enhancement in the yield under all drip fertigation levels. Yield of brinjal was maximum in treatment of drip fertigation at 150 % RDF (T 4 ) (557.10 q/ha) and found at par with treatment of drip fertigation at 125 % RDF (T 3 ) (554.88 q/ha). But the advantage in treatment T 3 was requirement of 25 % less amount of fertilizer. Considering requirement of less amount of fertilizer in treatment T 3 than treatment T 4 ; the treatment T 3 may be suggested as a best treatment. Minimum yield of brinjal was found in treatment of traditional fertilization at 100 % RDF. Highest irrigation water use efficiency i.e. 7.33 q/ha-cm, was found in treatment of drip fertigation at 150 % RDF (T 4 ) followed by treatment of drip fertigation at 125 % RDF (T 3 ). Keywords Brinjal, Solanum melongena L, Drip Fertigation Accepted: 24 August 2019 Available Online: 10 September 2019 Article Info International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 09 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com