Response of Fertigation Under Buried Straw Layer on Growth, Yield, and Water-fertilizer Productivity of Chinese Cabbage Under Greenhouse Conditions

In the present study, the effect of buried straw (two levels; M-S; buried straw layer and M-N; no straw layer), nitrogen fertilizer (two levels: F-H, 120 kgha(-1) and F-L, 80 kgha(-1)), and deficit drip irrigation with irrigation frequency of 2days (two irrigation regimes: I-50; 50% and I-30; 30% of evapotranspiration) was investigated on a greenhouse-grown leafy cabbage for two consecutive seasons. The results indicated that in both the seasons, T-5 (MNFHI50) gave higher yield when compared to all other treatments but it also utilized more water and fertilizer. On the other hand, with a 5-10% decrease in yield comparing to T-5 (MNFHI50), T-2 (MBSFLI50) and T-4 (MSFLI30) saved 33% of fertilizer. T-4 (MBSFLI30) also gave the highest water and fertilizer use efficiencies when compared to all other treatments. However, it was clearly noted that T-4 (MSFLI30) treatment could save water and nitrogen without a significant decrease in fresh yield of Chinese cabbage. Hence, T-4 (MsFLI30) is the recommended strategy to manage water and nitrogen fertilizer for getting optimal leafy cabbage plant growth and yield.