Utilization of Harvested Water for Protective Irrigation and Mulching with Integrated Nutrient Management to Mitigate Dryspell for Maize (Zea mays L.) Production under Dryland Conditions

In kharif, 2012 there was a drought condition in the eastern dry zone of Karnataka where the rainfall accounted for only about 59.5% of the normal rainfall. To assess the effect of protective irrigation and mulching to mitigate dryspell with integrated nutrient management in maize production, a field experiment was conducted at All India Co-ordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore during kharif, 2012. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design and replicated thrice which consisted of three main treatments viz. M₁ (no protective irrigation and no mulch); M₂ (protective irrigation) and M₃ (protective irrigation with weed biomass mulching), and three sub-treatments viz. N₁ (recommended doses of fertilizers); N₂ (50% N substituted through poultry manure) and N₃ (50% N substituted through Glyricidia green leaf manuring) with recommended doses of P₂O₅ and K₂O through fertilizers. Three protective irrigations of 246926 l/ha were given through harvested water collected in the farm pond. Significantly higher growth parameters, yield attributes, kernel yield (5424 kg/ha) and stover yield (10342 kg/ha) of maize was observed in the plots under protective irrigations and mulching. Among the nutrient management treatments, recommended dose of fertilizers gave significantly higher kernel (5628 kg/ha) and stover yield (9825 kg/ha).