Effect of planting methods, mulching and irrigation regimes on Maize Productivity

A field experiment was conducted during Kharif 2013 to study the effect of planting methods (ridge and flat), mulch levels (5 t ha⁻¹ and no mulch) and irrigation regimes (IW/CPE ratio of 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2) on growth and yield of maize. The growth parameters like plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area index (LAI) and dry matter accumulation (DMA) were higher under ridge sowing as compared to flat sowing and with mulch application as compared to no mulch. The grain yield of ridge sowing (47.5 q ha⁻¹) was 13.2% higher than flat sowing. Whereas, the yield increase was 14.7% under mulch application (48.2 q ha⁻¹) as compared to no mulch condition. The grain yield under irrigation regimes of 1.2 IW/CPE ratio was 47.5 q ha⁻¹ which was significantly higher than that obtained under 0.8 IW/CPE ratio but was statistically similar with the yield obtained under irrigation regimes of 1.0 IW/CPE ratio. However, 1.0 IW/CPE ratio also remained statistically at par with 0.8 IW/CPE.