Performance of multitier fruit-based agroforestry under deficit irrigation in semi-arid Rajasthan, India

Introduction Semi-arid regions are highly fragile, with erratic rainfall and high evapotranspiration limiting agricultural productivity. Multitier agroforestry (MTA) offers a resilient land-use strategy by integrating trees, fruit crops, and grasses to optimize land, water, and nutrient use. Materials and methods The experiment was carried out from 2022 to 2024 at the ICAR–Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Regional Research Station, Pali Marwar, Rajasthan, India, to evaluate growth, yield, and soil physico-chemical properties in an MTA system comprising Ber var Gola ( Zizyphus sp.), Dragon fruit ( Selenicereus polyrhizus ), Moringa ( Moringa oleifera ), and Papaya ( Carica papaya ) under three drip irrigation levels (1.0, 0.8, and 0.6 cumulative pan evapotranspiration, CPE) using saline water (Electrical conductivity, EC: 4.5 dSm -1 ). Results and discussion Dragon fruit exhibited the highest survival and growth (96.54%), while Moringa and Papaya exhibited poor performance due to elevated EC and residual effect of previous land-management practices (flood irrigation). Dragon fruit growth and yield responded positively to irrigation, with maximum dragon fruit weight (301 g fruit -1 ) under 1 CPE, representing a 43.33% increase over 0.6 CPE. However, higher mean ber yield was observed under 0.6 CPE (22.68 kg plant -1 ), representing an 8.15% increase over 0.8 CPE (20.97 kg plant -1 ). Soil analysis indicated a decline of 28.75% in available nitrogen (181.34 kgha -1 ), 8.76 % increase in potassium (213.18 kg ha -1 ) compared to initial N value (227.45 kg ha -1 ; 196 kg ha -1 ). The highest EC was observed under 1CPE (2.56 dSm -1 ) followed by 0.9 CPE (1.39 dSm -1 ). The study demonstrates that integrating moderately salt-tolerant species like dragon fruit with optimized irrigation under saline conditions enhance and improve the productivity of semi-arid multitier agroforestry systems.