EFFECT OF DIFFERENT IRRIGATION AND FERTIGATION STRATEGIES ON CORN PRODUCTION UNDER DRIP IRRIGATION

Abstract

Crop and water productivity can be improved by sowing crops under drip irrigation coupled with fertigation and proper management scheme. The study was conducted, during spring seasons of 2015 and 2016, at Faisalabad, Pakistan to investigate the corn response under different irrigation frequencies including daily: daily irrigation, 3rd day: cumulative irrigation at every third day and 5th day: cumulative irrigation at every 5th day. Also, three rates of recommended dose of fertigation (RDF) including 100% of RDF, 75% of RDF and 50% of RDF were investigated for both imported water soluble fertilizer (IM) and indigenously developed water soluble fertilizer (NB) to check their effect on corn production and its net profit. The experiment was laid under “Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD)”. Crop growth was measured in terms of plant height, dry matter weight, grain yield, harvest index and water productivity. The results revealed that plant height, dry matter weight, grain yield, harvest index and water productivity were statistically highest under daily frequency followed by 5th day and 3rd day irrigation frequency, respectively. The results also showed that the highest plant height (192.8 cm), dry matter weight (18.17 t/ha), grain yield (9.47 t/ha) and water productivity (3.41 kg/m3) were produced by NB 100. Treatment under daily irrigation with NB 100 produced highest grain yield (9.98 t/ha) and net profit (Rs. 210342/ha) among all other treatments. Therefore, it is recommended that corn sown under drip irrigation should be fertilized by NB 100 with daily irrigation frequency for economically better production in the semi-arid area of Faisalabad, Pakistan.