EFFECT OF DEFICIT IRRIGATION THROUGH PRESSURIZED IRRIGATION SYSTEM ON MAIZE (Zea mays) GRAIN YIELD AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY

K.N. RAJA KUMAR¹*, A. MANI², G. RAVI BABU³, M. MARTIN LUTHER⁴, CH. SUJANI RAO^5
1Department of Soil and Water Conservation Engineering, Dr NTR College of Agricultural Engineering, Bapatla, 522 101, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
²Professor & Head, Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Dr NTR College of Agricultural Engineering, Bapatla, 522 101, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
³Associate Dean & Professor, College of Agricultural Engineering, Madakasira, 515 301, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Guntur, India
⁴Professor & Head, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College, Bapatla, 522 101, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Guntur, India
⁵Technical Officer & Professor, O/o Controller of Examinations, Administrative Office Lam, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Guntur, India
* Corresponding Author : aniraj_r@yahoo.com

Received : 05-12-2020     Accepted : 26-12-2020     Published : 30-12-2020
Volume : 12     Issue : 24       Pages : 10541 - 10544
Int J Agr Sci 12.24 (2020):10541-10544

Keywords : Maize crop, Drip irrigation, Yield, Water use efficiency
Academic Editor : Dr Vipul N Kapadia, Dr Hemangi Mehta, M. K. Mladenov
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors are thankful to Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Dr NTR College of Agricultural Engineering, Bapatla, 522 101, Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Author Contribution : All authors equally contributed

Water is critical resource in India for the development of agriculture, industry, power generation, livestock production and other activities in future. Lack of knowledge among the maize growers about the consequences of irrational use of water is mainly responsible for low water use efficiency at field level. A field experiment was conducted during kharif, 2018 and kharif, 2019 under maize crop at the field irrigation laboratory, Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Dr N. T. R. College of Agricultural Engineering, Bapatla, Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh State, India. The rainfall received during crop growing period of kharif 2018 was 303.4 mm and 537.5 mm during kharif, 2019. The initial soil physical and chemical properties of the experiment site were measured. The inline drip irrigation system was designed in split pot for the experiment with three irrigation levels (main plots) namely I1= 0.6 of the crop evapotranspiration, I2= 0.8 of the crop evapotranspiration and I3=1.0 of the crop evapotranspiration and four nitrogen levels ( sub plots) namely N1= Drip fertigation with 80% of recommended dose of nitrogen (CF), N2= Drip fertigation with 100% of recommended dose of nitrogen (CF), N3= Drip fertigation with 120% of recommended dose of nitrogen (CF) and N4= No drip fertigation (manual application) with 100% of recommended dose of nitrogen (CF) with three replications. The amount of crop water requirement of maize was estimated with computer software CROPWAT (v 8.0). The yield and water use efficiency of maize were estimated for both the seasons. During kharif, 2018 the highest grain yield of 6212 kg ha-1 was recorded in I3 which was on par with I2. The lowest grain yield of 4196 kg ha-1 was recorded at I1. During kharif, 2019 the highest grain yield of 6857 kg ha-1 was recorded in I2 which was on par with I3. The lowest grain yield of 4458 kg ha-1 was recorded at I1 (0.6 of the crop evapotranspiration). The highest WUE of 15.44 and 12.11 kg ha-1 mm-1 was obtained in I2N3 treatment during kharif, 2018 and kharif, 2019 respectively. The lowest WUE of 10.10and 7.65 kg ha-1 mm-1 was obtained in I3N1 treatment during kharif, 2018 and kharif, 2019 respectively.

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