Author(s):

Durga C, V Ramulu, M Umadevi and K Suresh

Abstract: A field experiment was conducted for field evaluation of soil moisture sensors for irrigation scheduling in rabi maize at Water Technology Centre, PJTSAU, Hyderabad. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design replicated thrice with 12 treatment combinations. Maize (Zea mays L.) is known as miracle crop or queen of cereals due to its high productivity among the cereal crops of Graminae family and is a staple food in many regions of the world. To safeguard and sustain the food security in India, it is quite important to increase the productivity of maize under limited water resources. As per the concepts of water foot print and virtual water, 1 kg of maize needs 900 litres of water. Moisture sensors viz., tensiometer, gypsum block, profile probe, nano sensor (IITB), soil moisture indicator have been installed both under surface and drip irrigation methods. Drip irrigation method was found significantly superior than surface furrow irrigation in terms of growth parameters of maize. Among irrigation scheduling sensors, nano sensors recorded highest growth parameters both under drip and surface irrigation system closely followed by gypsum block. Irrigation scheduled based on nano sensors recorded highest number of leaves (16.3) leaf area (5068cm²), shelling percentage (79.73) and test weight (38.76) over other sensors under drip irrigation method.

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