Enhancing Yield, Uptake and Nutrient Use Efficiency of Brinjal Through Soil Test Crop Response Approach

Fertilizer requirement for the crop should be based on yield response to the added fertilizer nutrient, nutrient requirements of a crop, nutrient supply from indigenous sources and the fate of added fertilizers to the soil in the short and long term. Thus, the soil test crop response (STCR) approach can be adopted for calculating fertilizer requirements by crops. The field experiments were conducted at the Eastern Dry Zone of Karnataka, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, in three phases. Soil test data, yield and NPK uptake by brinjal crop were used for achieving four important basic parameters, viz. nutrient requirement, contribution of nutrients from fertilizers, soil and organic manure, to develop the targeted yield equation and these equations were validated in comparison with Low-Medium-High (LMH) approach and generally recommended dose (GRD). It was found that 1.11, 0.46, and 0.30 kg of N, P2O5, and K2O respectively were required for producing one quintal of brinjal fruit under integrated approach. The contribution of NPK from soil toward crop uptake was 26.07%, 5.94% and 36.89% respectively; from organic manure was 16.15%, 8.66% and 31.55% respectively and from fertilizers was 42.27, 11.73 and 170.84% respectively. The STCR integrated approach with FYM, at the target yields 35 and 30 t ha-1, enhanced the fruit yield to an extent of 12.90% and 9.94%, respectively, over GRD. It also exhibited higher NPK uptake and use efficiency and better profitability. Hence integrated STCR targeted yield approach could be sustainable nutrient management option(s) for improving the productivity of brinjal.