{ "abstract": "Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) requires considerable soil moisture throughout its life cycle, therefore, its cultivation in water constraint area is difficult. Though different soil moisture conservation technologies and lower water use irrigation systems have been developed for crop cultivation, their successful deployment largely depends on the locality, especially on soil characteristics. This study evaluated the effects of irrigation regimes, mulching practices, and their combination on growth, stress physiology and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) of brinjal across two field locations with contrasting soil conditions. Location 1 had coarser soil, lower nutrient and organic matter content profiles and lower water-holding capacity than location 2. The experiment comprised three irrigation levels [rainfed (I0), conventional furrow irrigation (IC), and drip irrigation (ID)] and three mulching treatments [no mulch (M0), straw mulch (MS), and plastic mulch (MP)] with three replications at both locations. Irrigation and mulching both significantly influenced growth, stress indicators, fruit yield, and IWUE, though the effects of the treatment on these parameters varied between locations. At Location 1, drip irrigation (ID) produced a fruit yield of 8.90 ± 5.68 t ha−1, with considerable variability among replicates, and did not differ significantly (p = 0.88) from conventional furrow irrigation (IC) or the rainfed treatment (I0). In contrast, at location 2, drip irrigation outperformed (21.88 ± 9.44 t ha−1) other treatments, being 117% and 32% higher than I0 and IC, respectively. Plastic mulching (MP) improved growth, reduced drought stress and increased yield compared to MS and M0 at both locations. The highest yield at location 1 (23.18 ± 6.62 t ha−1) occurred under IC × MP, while the highest yield at location 2 (32.93 ± 1.62 t ha−1) was achieved under ID × MP. IWUE peaked at 38.84 kg ha−1 mm−1 (IC × MP) in location 1 and 65.87 kg ha−1 mm−1 (ID × MP) in location 2. A linear mixed model estimated that plastic mulch increased yield by ~10.63 t ha−1 (95% CI: 6.58–14.68 t ha−1, p < 0.001) over no mulch, and IC × MP produced a synergistic yield gain of 11.03 t ha−1 (95% CI: 5.3–16.76 t ha−1, p = 0.003) over the control. Overall, plastic mulching consistently enhanced brinjal performance, while the benefit of drip irrigation was soil-dependent and was most evident in the higher water-retention field.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Department of Agronomy, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh", "RDRS-Bangladesh, Rangpur, Bangladesh", "School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Adelaide University, Adelaide, Australia" ], "article_type": "Research Article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 8, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Md. Nayan" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "F. M. Jamil Uddin" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Rounak Islam" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Pronomi Paul Sutapa" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Pallab Goswami" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Swapan Kumar Paul" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Tamara Jackson", "orcid": "0000-0002-0565-5335" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Md. Harun Rashid", "orcid": "0000-0001-6087-3469" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8tmqyrbw2nn36.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0360413", "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13712550/", "id": "8tmqyrbw2nn36", "issns": [ "1932-6203" ], "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360413", "language": "en", "licence": "CC-BY-4.0", "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "heading", "Agricultural Irrigation" ], [ "heading", "Agricultural Methods" ], [ "heading", "Agricultural Soil Science" ], [ "heading", "Agriculture" ], [ "heading", "Amino Acids" ], [ "heading", "Biochemistry" ], [ "heading", "Biology and Life Sciences" ], [ "heading", "Chemical Compounds" ], [ "heading", "Chemistry" ], [ "heading", "Crop Science" ], [ "heading", "Crops" ], [ "heading", "Cyclic Amino Acids" ], [ "heading", "Drip Irrigation" ], [ "heading", "Earth Sciences" ], [ "heading", "Eukaryota" ], [ "heading", "Leaves" ], [ "heading", "Lift Irrigation" ], [ "heading", "Organic Chemistry" ], [ "heading", "Organic Compounds" ], [ "heading", "Organisms" ], [ "heading", "Physical Sciences" ], [ "heading", "Plant Anatomy" ], [ "heading", "Plant Science" ], [ "heading", "Plants" ], [ "heading", "Proline" ], [ "heading", "Proteins" ], [ "heading", "Research Article" ], [ "heading", "Soil Science" ], [ "heading", "Weeds" ], [ "openalex", "1111|Irrigation Practices and Water Management" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Agriculture/Agricultural methods/Agricultural irrigation" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Agriculture/Agricultural methods/Agricultural irrigation/Drip irrigation" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Agriculture/Agricultural methods/Agricultural irrigation/Lift irrigation" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Agriculture/Agricultural soil science" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Agriculture/Crop science/Crops" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Biochemistry/Proteins/Amino acids/Cyclic amino acids/Proline" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Eukaryota/Plants/Weeds" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Plant science/Plant anatomy/Leaves" ], [ "plos", "/Earth sciences/Soil science/Agricultural soil science" ], [ "plos", "/Physical sciences/Chemistry/Chemical compounds/Organic compounds/Amino acids/Cyclic amino acids/Proline" ], [ "plos", "/Physical sciences/Chemistry/Organic chemistry/Organic compounds/Amino acids/Cyclic amino acids/Proline" ] ], "openalex": "W7223831185", "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0360413&type=printable", "pmcid": "PMC13712550", "pmid": "42945168", "published": "2026-10-27", "publisher": "Public Library of Science", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8tmqyrbw2nn36.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:17Z", "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0360413", "source": "plos", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360413" }, { "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:23:06Z", "native_id": "PMC13712550", "source": "pmc", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360413" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "biochemistry", "origin": "heading:Biochemistry", "subfield": "general" }, { "field": "biology", "origin": "plos:plant science", "subfield": "plant-biology" }, { "field": "chemistry", "origin": "plos:organic chemistry", "subfield": "organic" }, { "field": "earth", "origin": "plos:soil science", "subfield": "hydrology-soils" } ], "title": "Plastic mulching consistently improves brinjal performance, but drip irrigation benefits are soil dependent: A two-location field study", "title_text": "Plastic mulching consistently improves brinjal performance, but drip irrigation benefits are soil dependent: A two-location field study", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:23:06Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8tmqyrbw2nn36", "venue": "PLOS One", "versions": [] }