Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2025)

Impact of drip fertigation on maize growth and productivity under conservation agriculture practices in the eastern Indo-Gangetic plains of India

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.7001
Submitted
1 January 2025
Published
29-05-2025 — Updated on 30-05-2025
Versions

Abstract

A two-season field experiment (2022-23 and 2023-24) was conducted at the International Rice Research Institute – South Asia regional Centre, Varanasi, India to evaluate the performance of rabi maize in a five-year long term conservation agriculture-based rice-maize system under surface and subsurface drip fertigation.   The experiment was followed a randomized complete block design with nine treatment combinations and three replications. The treatment, zero till maize – direct seeded rice  system under subsurface drip fertigation and 100 % recommended nitrogen (ZTM-DSR-SSD-100N) exhibited the highest plant height (213.7 cm), dry matter accumulation (316.0 g plant-1) and leaf area index (LAI) (6.74 at 90 DAS), outperforming other treatments by 13.9 %, 35 % and 21 %, respectively, over the lowest-performing CTM-PTR-100N. Yield attributes followed a similar trend, with ZTM-DSR-SSD-100N recording the highest cobs per hectare (72.18), cob length (19.77 cm) and grains per cob (559.94), with 27.6 % higher grain yield (7.43 t ha-1) over least-performing treatment, ZTM-PTR-75N. Enhanced resource efficiency under SSD ensured precise water and nutrient delivery, promoting superior canopy and cob development. Conversely, conventional puddled systems exhibited reduced yields due to waterlogging and inefficient nutrient use. This study highlights the superiority of SSD over traditional methods, showcasing its potential to improve maize productivity and resource-use efficiency under CA-based systems. These findings emphasize the importance of advanced irrigation and nitrogen management strategies for sustainable intensification in the eastern Indo-Gangetic plains.

References

  1. 1. Jat HS, Kumar V, Datta A, Choudhary M, Singh Y, Kakraliya SK, et al. Designing profitable, resource use efficient and environmentally sound cereal based systems for the Western Indo-Gangetic Plains. Sci Rep. 2020;10:19267. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76035-z
  2. 2. Assefa Y, Yadav S, Mondal MK, Bhattacharya J, Parvin R, Sarker SR, et al. Crop diversification in rice-based systems in the polders of Bangladesh: Yield stability, profitability and associated risk. Agric Syst. 2021;187:102986. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102986
  3. 3. Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR), Indian Maize Scenario. PAU Campus, Ludhiana, Punjab. ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research. 2021. https://iimr.icar.gov.in/india-maize-scenario/
  4. 4. Jat RK, Singh RG, Kumar M, Jat ML, Parihar CM, Bijarniya D, et al. Ten years of conservation agriculture in a rice–maize rotation of Eastern Gangetic Plains of India: Yield trends, water productivity and economic profitability. Field Crops Res. 2019;232:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2018.12.004
  5. 5. Akter S, Gathala MK, Timsina J, Islam S, Rahman M, Hassan MK, et al. Adoption of conservation agriculture-based tillage practices in the rice-maize systems in Bangladesh. World Dev Perspect. 2021;21:100297.
  6. 6. Reddy KS, Parihar CM, Panneerselvam P, Sarkar A, Patra K, Bharadwaj S, et al. Meta-analysis of yield-emission trade-off in direct seeded vs. puddled transplanted rice: Towards a cleaner and sustainable production. Clean Environ Syst. 2025;16:100238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cesys.2024.100238
  7. 7. Choudhary KM, Jat HS, Nandal DP, Bishnoi DK, Sutaliya JM, Choudhary M, et al. Evaluating alternatives to rice-wheat system in western Indo-Gangetic Plains: Crop yields, water productivity and economic profitability. Field Crops Res. 2018;218:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2017.12.023
  8. 8. Devkota KP, Yadav S, Humphreys E, Kumar A, Kumar P, Kumar V, et al. Land gradient and configuration effects on yield, irrigation amount and irrigation water productivity in rice-wheat and maize-wheat cropping systems in Eastern India. Agric Water Manag. 2021;255:107036.
  9. 9. Reddy KS, Parihar CM, Panneerselvam P, Sarkar A, Nayak HS, Patra K, et al. Eco-optimizing rice-wheat system of Eastern Indo-Gangetic plains of India through resource conservation technologies: insights from field experiments and modeling. Front Sustain Food Syst. 2025;9:1499425. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1499425
  10. 10. Kumar K, Parihar CM, Nayak HS, Godara S, Gavinash G, Patra K, et al. Enhancing maize yield in a conservation agriculture-based maize (Zea mays)-wheat (Triticum aestivum) system through efficient nitrogen management. Indian J Agric Sci. 2023;93(4):420–24.
  11. 11. Parihar CM, Parihar MD, Sapkota TB, Nanwal RK, Singh AK, Jat SL, et al. Long-term impact of conservation agriculture and diversified maize rotations on carbon pools and stocks, mineral nitrogen fractions and nitrous oxide fluxes in inceptisol of India. Sci Total Environ. 2018;640:1382–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.405
  12. 12. Jat ML, Chakraborty D, Ladha JK, Rana DS, Gathala MK, McDonald A, et al. Conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification in South Asia. Nat Sustain. 2020;3(4):336–43. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0500-2
  13. 13. Rana B, Parihar CM, Jat ML, Patra K, Nayak HS, Reddy KS, et al. Combining sub-surface fertigation with conservation agriculture in intensively irrigated rice under rice-wheat system can be an option for sustainably improving water and nitrogen use-efficiency. Field Crops Res. 2023;302:109074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2023.109074
  14. 14. Patra K, Parihar CM, Nayak HS, Rana B, Sena DR, Anand A, et al. Appraisal of complementarity of subsurface drip fertigation and conservation agriculture for physiological performance and water economy of maize. Agric Water Manag. 2023;283:108308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108308
  15. 15. Sharma AR, Parihar CM, Sarkar A, Garnaik S, Reddy S, Nayak HS. Nutrient management in conservation agriculture-based production Systems: Some practical considerations. Indian J Fert. 2023;19(11):1122–31.
  16. 16. Sidhu HS, Jat ML, Singh Y, Sidhu RK, Gupta N, Singh P, et al. Sub-surface drip fertigation with conservation agriculture in a rice-wheat system: a breakthrough for addressing water and nitrogen use efficiency. Agric Water Manag. 2019;216:273–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2019.02.019
  17. 17. Walkley A, Black IA. An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Sci. 1934;37(1):29–38.
  18. 18. Subbiah BV, Asija GL. A rapid procedure for the estimation of available nitrogen in soils. Curr Sci. 1956;25:259–60.
  19. 19. Olsen SR, Cole CV, Watanabe FS, Dean LA. Estimation of available phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. USDA Circ. 1954:939.
  20. 20. Hanway JJ, Heidel H. Soil analysis methods as used in Iowa State College soil testing laboratory. Iowa Agric. 1952;57:1–31.
  21. 21. Gomez KA, Gomez AA. Statistical procedures for Agricultural Research. International Rice Research Institute, 2nd edn. New York: John Willey and Sons. 1984.
  22. 22. R Core Team. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna (AT): R Foundation for Statistical Computing. 2022. https://www.R-project.org/
  23. 23. Schmidt JE, Peterson C, Wan D, Scow KM, Gaudin ACM. Agroecosystem tradeoffs associated with conversion to subsurface drip irrigation in organic systems. Agric Water Manag. 2018;202:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2018.02.005
  24. 24. Tuti MD, Rapolu MK, Sreedevi B, Bandumula N, Kuchi S, Bandeppa S, et al. Sustainable intensification of a rice–maize system through conservation agriculture to enhance system productivity in Southern India. Plants. 2022;11:1229. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11091229
  25. 25. Patra S, Parihar CM, Mahala DM, Singh D, Nayak HS, Patra K, et al. Influence of long-term tillage and diversified cropping systems on hydrophysical properties in a sandy loam soil of North-Western India. Soil Tillage Res. 2023;229:105655.
  26. 26. Sharda R, Mahajan G, Siag M, Singh A, Chauhan BS. Performance of drip irrigated dry-seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.) in South Asia. Paddy Water Environ. 2017;15:93–100.
  27. 27. Reddy KS, Parihar CM, Peramaiyan P, Patra K, Sarkar A, Kumar S, et al. Subsurface drip fertigation boosts maize productivity and nitrogen use efficiency under conservation agriculture-based rice-maize system in eastern Indo-Gangetic plains. Indian J Fert. 2025;21(2).
  28. 28. Nayak HS, Mkondiwa M, Patra K, Sarkar A, Reddy KS, Kumar P, et al. Risk-return trade-offs in diversified cropping systems under conservation agriculture: Evidence from a 14-year long-term field experiment in north-western India. Eur J Agron. 2024;162:127436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2024.127436
  29. 29. Kumar K, Parihar CM, Nayak HS, Sena DR, Godara S, Dhakar R, et al. Modeling maize growth and nitrogen dynamics using CERES Maize (DSSAT) under diverse nitrogen management options in a conservation agriculture based maize wheat system. Sci Rep. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-61976-6
  30. 30. Reddy KS, Parihar CM, Peramaiyan P, Pandey R, Dhakar R, Sarkar A, et al. Impact of drip fertigation on growth and yield of wheat in a conservation agriculture based rice-wheat system in eastern Indo-Gangetic plains of India. Indian J Agric Sci. 2025;95(2). https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v95i2.156209
  31. 31. Kumar R, Rao KK, Mondal S, Choudhary JS, Kumar S, Jat SL, et al. A comprehensive analysis of resource conservation strategies: Impacts on productivity, energetics and environmental footprints in rice-based systems of the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains. Curr Res Environ Sustain. 2024;8:100271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2024.100271
  32. 32. Bhuiyan MSI, Rahman A, Loladze I, Das S, Kim PJ. Subsurface fertilization boosts crop yields and lowers greenhouse gas emissions: A global meta-analysis. Sci Total Environ. 2023;876:162712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162712

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.