Efficient Smart Water Management Techniques to Enhance Crop Productivity for Maize
P. Prema *
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, India.
A. Veeramani
TNAU, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Chettinadu, India.
J. Kannan
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India.
T. Sampath Kumar
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, India.
B. Sivasankari
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, India.
P. Jona Innisai Rani
TNAU, Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tiruchirappalli, India.
S. Amutha
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
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%).
Keywords: Irrigation, sensor based irrigation, weather based monitoring, automatic irrigation system