A Study on Sensor Based Irrigation and Nitrogen Management in Maize Zea Mays L

Abstract

Maize is widely called as the "Queen of Cereals” owing to its great producing capacity among the cereal crop. The ever-increasing demand combined with the ever-increasing expenses of water and energy has made it imperative to create new technologies for the appropriately managing of water resources. The conventional method of farming is no longer viable because of the increasing shortage of water; as a result, it is no longer possible to satisfy the needs of ever-increasing populations. During the Kharif-2019 growing season, the field experiment entitled "Sensor and SMI based irrigation management in Maize [Zea mays (L.)] to enhance growth, yield, and water use efficiency" was carried out at the 'L' Block, ZARS, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore 560065. The experiment included seven different treatments: T1 was surface irrigation, T2 was drip irrigation at three-day intervals, T3 was green soil moisture indicator (GSMI) based drip irrigation, T4 was yellow soil moisture indicator based drip irrigation (YSMI), T5 was sensor based drip irrigation at 25% depletion of available soil moisture (DASM), T6 was sensor based drip irrigation at 50% DASM, and T7 was sensor based drip irrigation at 75% DASM. These were arranged in RCBD, and three copies were made of them. According to the findings, sensor-based drip irrigation with a concentration of 25% DASM resulted in considerably better growth metrics, kernel yield, and Stover yield. However, GSMI-based drip irrigation reported a yield that was on par with that of conventional irrigation. Additionally, greater water usage efficiency was obtained with the same treatment. In contrast, surface irrigation resulted in a grain yield of 6551 kilogrammes per hectare, a stover yield of 8007 kilogrammes per hectare, and a water usage efficiency of 131.8 kilogrammes per cubic metre per hectare.