Optimising Maize Production Through Efficient Irrigation and Organic Nutrient Sources in Dryland Agroecosystem

Abstract Scarcity of water irrigation and low nutrients availability are the major limitation factors of crop production such as maize in dryland agroecosystem. The purpose of the research was to improve maize production through efficient drip irrigation and various sources of organic nutrients in dryland agroecosystem. The trial was designed as a randomized split plot arrangement for three water drip irrigation treatments of P1 (100%, crop water requirement, CWR), P2 (80% CWR) and P3 (60% CWR) as main plots and four organic fertilizer treatments as subplots: B0 (no organic fertilizer), B1 (manure; 10 ton/ha), B2 (biochar of huck rice 10 ton/ha), B3 (biochar 5 ton/ha+vermicompost 5 ton/ha) with three replications. Results revealed that application of any organic fertilizer used significantly increased soil moisture and maize production in dryland. The highest soil moisture content was found at B2 treatment followed by B3 and B1 treatments and the lowest was found at B0 treatment. The highest maize yield was found at B1, followed by B3 and B2 treatments and the lowest was found at B0 treatment. Maize yield under P2 treatment was not significantly different from P1 treatment except under P3 treatment. The efficient irrigation in combination with organic fertilizers improves maize yield in dryland. However, further research involving field experiment underdiverse environmental conditions is needed to increase the reliability and generalizability of the findings.