R. SUGANTHI, S. PAUL SEBASTIAN, C. INDHUPARAMESHWARI, S. AVUDAINAYAGAM, L. MEENA AND O. SADISH
Abstract
Recycling and reuse of treated effluent in agriculture is gaining importance due to the reduction of water resources, which makes treated effluent, a potential alternative for irrigation. Drip irrigation using treated effluent encompasses many advantages which include water conservation, nutrient uptake and prevention of groundwater contamination. Due to lack of sufficient information regarding the effect of irrigation on soil, water use efficiency in Maize production in India, particularly for treated effluent irrigation, a field experiment was conducted at ITC Ltd., PSPD, Kovai unit, Thekkampatty, Coimbatore. Comparative evaluation was done to study the potential of treated effluent on soil properties, growth, yield and irrigation water use efficiency of Maize, which does not show any significant negative impact on chemical properties of the soil. On comparison with flood irrigation, Drip irrigation with treated effluent recorded the highest grain yield of 7.1 t ha-1 and Irrigation water use efficiency of 2.26 kg m-3.