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This study investigated the combined effects of drip irrigation and mulches on early vegetative growth of brinjal (egg plant). The treatments of the study comprised different combinations of two drip irrigation levels (100 and 80% of crop water requirement, ETc) and two mulches (black polyethylene sheet and paddy straw). The early vegetative growth characters in the mulched treatments for both levels of irrigation were significantly higher compared to those in the un-mulched treatments. The early vegetative growth of brinjal increased with the increasing amount of irrigation water in un-mulched treatment. The trend was reversed when drip irrigation was coupled with mulches. The highest shoot and root length, number of primary branches, number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of shoot and root, root shoot ratio, root length, diameter and volume of root were obtained when 80% of water requirement was applied. The highest leaf chlorophyll content was observed with polyethylene mulch at both irrigation levels compared to paddy straw mulch and un-mulched plots. The study thus reveals that drip irrigation with mulch has an explicit role in increasing the early vegetative growth in brinjal, which further promotes more vigorous growth and heavy yields.

Key words: Brinjal, Shoot, Root, Mulch, Irrigation.