Abstract

Field experiments were conducted at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University during summer and kharif, 1997 to study the effect of irrigation regimes nitrogen levels and their interaction on baby corn. Three levels of irrigation regime viz. irrigation at 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 IW/CPE ratio were assigned to main plots and five levels of N viz. 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 Kg ha¹ were allotted to sub-plots. All the treatments were replicated thrice. Different irrigation regimes and N levels exerted favorable influence on plant height and dry matter production. These parameters were increased with higher soil moisture regime of 1.00 IW/ CPE ratio coupled with application of 150 Kg N hat The yield attributes viz. number of cobs per plant and young cob yield were higher with irrigation scheduled at 1.00 IW/CPE ratio along with N at 150 Kg ha. Similar trend was also observed in the case of stover yield and crude protein. However no significant effect was recorded on Vitamin C content. The total water used was higher under irrigation at 1.00 TW/ CPE ratio whereas the water use efficiency was higher at 0.50 IW/CPE ratio. The interaction effect between irrigation regimes and N levels was significant for all the growth and yield parameters.

Keywords: Baby corn, Irrigation regime, Nitrogen levels, Water requirement, Water use efficiency