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The current study delves into the impact of irrigation using two distinct water sources (freshwater and brackish water) in conjunction with three salt-tolerant fodder crops (Sesbania, Guar, and Pearl millet) within arid dry-land environments for two year experiments. Brackish water irrigation impedes the growth of all three plant species and reduces water consumption relative to freshwater irrigation. Logistic growth prediction equations for plant height, stem diameter, and the number of branches per plant are formulated across different water qualities irrigation against planting days. Biomass water use efficiency all three plant species having lower under brackish water irrigation. Consequently, the introduction of salt-tolerant plant species under brackish water irrigation presents an eco-friendly approach to harness arid dry-land for agricultural production. Furthermore, the predicted growth equations also provide, crucial insights for enhancing production in dry-land conditions by improving water use efficiency under different water irrigation.

Nitrogen (N) is the important nutrition that regulatory plant functioning and environmental stability of invasive plant species under flooding (F) conditions. Little information clarifies the role of nitrogen enrichment and flooding on the invasive plant functional traits and competition with native competitors. Plant functional traits play an essential role in the successful growth of plants under different environmental conditions. Therefore, greenhouse pots experiment was conducted with invasive plant species (Wedelia trilobata, WT), and its native competitor (Wedelia chinensis, WC) in monoculture and cocultivation culture, along with flooding and nitrogen enrichment conditions. Considering the impact of flooding (F) and nitrogen (N) on an individual basis, the plant physiological traits of WC were nonsignificant compared to that of WT. However, in the combination of flooding × additional nitrogen (F.N, F.2N), plant physiological traits of WT were comparatively higher than those of WC, especially in cocultivation. In flooding × additional nitrogen (F.N and F.2N), better phenotypic plasticity at different plant traits makes WT more dominant in resource competition over WC. In conclusion, improved functional traits of WT under nitrogen enrichment and flooding conditions enhanced its competitiveness over native competitors.