Impact of Different Irrigation and Fertigation Practices on the Growth and Productivity of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) under Protected Environment

The study assessed the impact of various drip irrigation and fertigation strategies on cucumber growth under protected cultivation. Over two seasons, surface drip (I1) was compared with subsurface drip irrigation (I2) under five fertigation treatments (F1-F5). Results revealed that I2 significantly improved growth parameters and yield over I1, including 5.5% reduction in days to 50 per cent flowering and 4.3% decrease in days to first picking. Fruit count and plant height increased by 14.1% and 7.8%, respectively, with a 14.9% rise in yield. Among fertigation treatments, F3 (compost tea with 75% NPK) outperformed the recommended practice F5 (100% NPK), showing a 7.8% faster approach to 50% flowering and reduced the number of days to first picking by 7.7%. F3 led to a 1.2% higher fruit count and a 6.2 and 14.7% increase in plant height and yield, respectively. The findings underscore the effectiveness of subsurface drip irrigation and integrated fertigation, particularly the F3, in enhancing cucumber production under protected conditions. The research highlights the potential of these practices in improving crop productivity and sustainability, especially in water-scarce areas.