In Rajasthan's arid tracts, sandy soils and high evaporative demand limit border irrigation, making drip irrigation a sustainable alternative to enhance crop productivity by "feeding the plant, not the soil." To understand the efficacy of drip fertigation, an experimental trial was conducted to assess its influence on growth, yield, water use efficiency (WUE) and economics of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) for three consecutive years (2016-2019). The experiment comprised of ten treatments viz. control (1.0 IW/CPE ratio of surface irrigation with 100% recommended dose of fertilizer), and nine treatments were the combination of 3 levels of irrigation water depth (0.4, 0.6, 0.8 IW/CPE ratio) along with three levels (60, 80 and 100% RDF) of recommended dose of fertilizers (40:30:30, N: P:K). The analysis of the pooled dataset revealed that drip irrigation at 0.8 Irrigation water (IW)/Cumulative Pan Evaporation (CPE) ratio with 100% recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) produced statistically superior plant height (31.37 cm), number of primary branches (PB)/plant (8.72) and secondary branches (SB)/plant (21.00), umbels/plant (UPP 34.90), umbellets umbel(- 1) (UPU 5.82), seed umbel(- 1) (30.73), test weight (TW 4.03 gm), seed yield (SY 830.83 kg ha(- 1)), essential oil (EO 4.54%), gross returns (GR 1,41,229 Indian Rupee ha(- 1)), net returns (89,559 Indian Rupee ha(- 1)) and benefit cost (B: C) ratio (1.73) above the control treatment. Maximum WUE (2.46 and 2.40 kg ha(- 1) mm(- 1)) and water saving (19.4 and 58.2%) was noted under drip irrigation maintained at a 0.8 and 0.4 IW/CPE ratio with the application of 100% RDF followed by drip irrigation at 0.6 IW/CPE ratio with 100% RDF (2.36 kg ha(- 1) mm(- 1) and 38.8%, respectively). Drip fertigation at 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8 IW/CPE ratios reduced seasonal water use by 58.2, 38.8 and 19.7%, respectively, compared to surface irrigation. The highest WUE (4.20 kg ha(- 1) mm(- 1) ) was observed under 0.4 IW/CPE + 100% RDF in a year (2016-17), while economic water productivity peaked under 0.8 IW/CPE + 100% RDF in wetter years, confirming strong year x treatment interaction effects. Essential oil is an indicator of spices and it was increased with drip fertigation. Drip fertigation is a more viable and acceptable option under harsh environmental conditions of arid and semi-arid zones.