Influence of moisture-management practices on productivity, profitability and energy dynamics of rainfed maize (Zea mays) in semi-arid sub-tropical climate

A field experiment was conducted at the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, during the rainy (kharif) seasons of 2014 and 2015, to study the impact of moisture-conservation techniques on growth, productivity and profitability of maize (Zea mays L). The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with 3 replications in a fixed lay-out. The treatments consisted of 4 moisture-conservation practices, viz. ridge and furrow (RF), RF + crop residue (CR) @ 4 t/ha, RF + CR @ 2 t/ha + VAM and flat sowing (FS). Among different moisture conservation techniques, RF with 4 t/ha CR recorded significant effect on growth parameters, viz. plant height, dry-matter accumulation (DMA) and leaf-area index (LAI) of maize in comparison to non-residue plots and FS. Values of canopy temperature depression (CTD) were significantly influenced by treatments 30 and 60 days after sowing (DAS), but remained unaffected at 90 DAS. SPAD values at 30, 60 and 90 DAS differed significantly at all stages and showed normal curve pattern with maximum values at 60 DAS. The treatment crop residue @ 4 t/ha in RF system produced numerically higher grain and stover yields of 3.43 and 9.51 t/ha respectively. Maize planted under RF with 4 t/ha CR exhibited significantly higher water-use efficiency (WUE) of 12.3 kg/ha-mm, followed by RF + CR 2 t/ha + VAM (10.9 kg/ha-mm) as compared to FS (8.45 kg/ha-mm) maximum net returns were obtained under RF + CR 4 t/ha (35.8 × 10³/ha) and the least under FS (22.7 × 10³/ha). Residue-based treatment, RF + CR 4 t/ha resulted in benefit: cost ratio of maximum value (1.39) maximum energy intensiveness (2.32 MJ/) and specific energy (17.57 MJ/kg) were also obtained for treatment RF + CR 4 t/ha.