Author(s): A. A. HARI AND L. GIRIJA DEVI

Abstract: A field experiment was conducted during 2015 tornstandardize the fertigation schedule for precision farming in bitter gourdrnvariety ‘Preethi’, to assess the impact of precision farming practices on yieldrnof the crop and to work out the economics. The experiment was laid out in splitrnplot design with four replications. The main plot treatments included fourrnfertigation levels (l) viz.,l₁-  75 % recommended dose (RD) of N and K, l₂-rn100 % RD of N and K, l₃- 150 % RD of N and K and l₄-  200 % RD of N and K. Fertigation intervalsrn(i) (i₁- at 4 days interval and i₂-  at 8 days interval) formed the sub plotrntreatments. Two controls were included in the study, viz.,controlrn1- Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) ad hoc recommendation for precisionrnfarming and control 2- KAU Package of Practices (POP) recommendation. P wasrnapplied uniformly (25 kg ha^-1)tornall treatments except control 1. The results revealed that the application ofrn100 % RD (l₂)recordedrnthe highest fruit yield, fruit number, number of harvests and total dry matterrnyield. Economic analysis revealed the superiority of fertigation treatmentsrnover both the control and within fertigation, the level l₂rnrecorded the highest B:C ratio and the net income was the highest in l₂i₁.

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