Fertigation Technology for Enhancing Nutrient Use and Crop Productivity:An overview

Abstract

Fertigation-a technique of application of fertilizers along with irrigation water, provides an excellent opportunity to maximize yield and minimize environmental pollution. Fertigation ensures availability of fertilizer nutrients in the root zone in readily available form and therefore, minimize fertilizer application rate and increases fertilizer use efficiency. The associated increase in yield with minimum fertilizer application rate, increases return on the fertilizer invested. Based on experimentation, it has been observed that fertigation leads to saving of fertilizer by 25-40%, increased returns and reduced leaching of the nutrients. The present paper is an attempt to review the work done on various aspects of fertigation technology.