EFFECT OF ALTERNATE WETTING AND DRYING FURROW IRRIGATION ON THE YIELD AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY OF MAIZE

Abstract

Efficient irrigation method is now essential in the areas where water resources are scare for irrigation. Therefore, a new method of irrigation was used to investigate the effect of alternate furrow irrigation on crop performances, seasonal water use (SWU) and water use efficiency (WUE) of maize at ARS, BARI, Dinajpur. Field experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design in a spilt plot design with nine treatments replicated thrice. The treatments were accommodated by three irrigation levels viz. I1, I2 and I3: Irrigation water applied to 100%, 80% and 60% field capacity, respectively and three methods (M1, M2 and M3:Alternate wetting and drying furrow irrigation (AWDFI), Fixed wetting and drying furrow irrigation (FWDFI) and Traditional furrow irrigation (TFI), of irrigation respectively). Results showed that AWDFI could maintain approximately similar grain yield compared to TFI with almost 50% reduction in irrigation water when irrigated to 100% FC. The interactive effect of irrigation levels and methods had significant effect on crop growth rate (CGR) in the crop biomass and grain yield among the treatments while the same level of irrigation produced insignificant difference between the alternate furrow irrigation (M1) and traditional furrow irrigation (M3) methods. But significantly better CGR and grain yield compared to the fixed furrow irrigation (M2) method were obtained. AWDFI and TFI produced around 9.5 and 9.9 t/ha when irrigation water was applied to 100% field capacity. AWDFI saved 27, 24 and 19 % SWU compared to TFI when irrigation water was applied to 100, 80 and 60% FC. WUE was substantially improved by AWDFI. WUE was higher around 23, 22 and 19% in AWDFI system than TFI when irrigating with 100, 80 and 60 % FC. However, alternate wetting and drying furrow irrigation is an effective and water-saving irrigation technique which improves water use efficiency without insignificant yield reduction and may have the potential to be used in drought fields where maize production is heavily dependent on irrigation.