Effect of irrigation regime and mulching on growth, yield and yield attributing character of <em>rabi </em>maize (<em>Zea mays</em> L.) in Tarai region

Abstract

A field study was conducted in the rabi seasons of 2016-17and 2017-18 at the Crop Research Centre of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar to study the effect of irrigation regime and mulching on growth, yield and yield attributing character of rabi maize (Zea mays L.) in tarai region. The treatments consisted of 3 level of irrigation regime viz., I1; 20% DASM, I2; 30% DASM and I3; 40% DASM in main plots and 4 level of organic mulches viz., M1; no mulch, M2; green gram straw mulch @ of 5 t ha-1, M3; maize straw mulch @ of 5 t ha-1 and M4; lantana straw mulch @ of 5 t ha-1 in sub-plots. All the 12 treatment combinations were tested in split plot design with 3 replications. The results revealed that irrigation applied at 20% depletion of available soil moisture (I1) showed maximum value of leaves per plant (12.8 and 12.6), plant height (244.2 and 217.5 cm at harvest stage), 100-grain weight (30.5 and 28.8 g), early days of emergence (10.4 and 11.4 plant day -1) and days to 50% tasseling (114.6 and 116.6 days) whereas root length (263.4 and 258.5 cm), root length density (0.71 and 0.69 cm cm-3), root weight per plant (123.9 and 136.8 g) and grain yield (8503.5 and 7943.5 kg ha-1) of maize showed maximum values at 30% depletion of available soil moisture (I2) during 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively. Among different mulches, green gram mulch @ of 5 t ha-1 (M2) recorded significantly highest value of growth parameters, yield and yield attributing characters of maize over other mulches and no mulch during 2016-17 and 2017-18. However, interaction of green gram straw @ of 5 t ha-1 (M2) as mulch with 30% depletion of available soil moisture (I2) showed best results over other treatment combinations.