Efficient Smart Water Management Techniques to Enhance Crop Productivity for Maize

Abstract

Maize is identified as the “Queen of Cereals” owing to its high yield. Water scarcity is a major problem, where agriculture consumes significant freshwater. Smart Irrigation with Internet of Things technology can help farmers to maximize crop production with less water. The field experiment on sensor-based drip Irrigation and farmer practice was conducted in the research field to enhance growth, yield, and water efficiency. The experiment comprised eight treatments such as T1: IoT based Drip Irrigation at 60% depletion level, T2: IoT based Drip Irrigation at 80% depletion level, T3: Drip Irrigation at 60% PE, T4: Drip Irrigation at 80% PE, T5: Drip irrigation as Normal Practice, T6: Surface Irrigation at 60% IW/CPE ratio, T7: Surface Irrigation at 80% IW/ CPE ratio and T8: Flood irrigation as Farmer’s Practice. The proposed systems-based Drip irrigation at a 60% depletion level can be recommended for hybrid maize to augment higher grain and straw yield. The highest water saving was recorded in IoT-based Drip Irrigation at a 60% depletion level(46.88%) followed by IoT-based Drip Irrigation at an 80% depletion level(40.63%).