Enhancing water I use efficiency of maize-chickpea sequence under semiarid conditions of southern India

Abstract

Maize is one of the three most important cereal crop species (after wheat and rice), and is grown throughout a wide range of climates. Maize is desired for its multiple environmental benefits of growing chickpea (Cice!' a1'ietinu111 L.) have been increasingly recognized in semiarid condition and inclusion of chickpea in cerealbased cropping systems has shown to improve the efficiency of nutrient (Walley et a1., 2007). WUE of maize is a function of multiple factors, including physiological characteristics of maize and chickpea, genotype, soil characteristics such as soil water holding capacity, meteorological conditions and agronomic practices. Hence, to improve WUE, integrative measures should aim to optimize agronomic practices viz, efficient irrigation methods and suitable landform management and improved practice of fertilization