Abstract

Field experiment was conducted at farmer's field at Palani taluk of Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu during kharif 2008 with the objective of evaluating the drip fertigation on water saving and Water Use Efficiency (WUE) in intensive maize based intercropping system. The experiment was laid out in strip plot design with three replications. The experiment consisted of 9 fertigation levels in main plot and 4 intercrops in sub plot. Among the different fertigation levels, higher maize grain yield of 7300 kg ha -1 was recorded under drip fertigation of 100 per cent RDF with 50 per cent P and K through water soluble fertilizer (WSF) followed by application of 150 per cent RDF through drip (7050 kg ha -1 ). The yield increase over drip irrigation with soil application of fertilizer was 39 per cent. Drip irrigation helped to save water upto 43.65 per cent compared to surface irrigation method. Among the different intercrops tested, higher WUE of 21.0 kg ha-1 mm -1 was observed under maize + vegetable coriander intercropping system.

Keywords: Drip fertigation, maize, intercropping system, water saving, water use efficiency.