Response of irrigation regimes and different planting geometries on growth and yield of maize (Zea mays L.)

Maize is one of the world’s major food grain crops, and its productivity is greatly influenced by irrigation management and planting geometry. In India, irregular rainfall and inadequate moisture during critical growth stages often reduce grain yield and water use efficiency. However, information on the combined effect of irrigation scheduling and planting geometry under surface irrigated conditions is still limited, highlighting the need for further research. Based on this a field experiment was conducted during the Kharif season 2025 at the Crop Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), to evaluate the response of irrigation regimes and different planting geometries on growth and yield attributes of maize. This experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three replications. Three irrigation regimes given in the main plots were: I1: No irrigation, I2: At vegetative stage (30-40 DAS), and I3: At tasseling stage (55-65 DAS) + silking stage (60-70 DAS). Three planting geometries were allotted to the subplots: S1 (45 × 20 cm), S2 (60 × 15 cm) and S3 (75 × 25 cm). Among the irrigation treatments, the application of irrigation at the tasseling and silking stages, the growth parameters, viz. plant height (188.66 cm), leaf count (12.11), and dry matter (274.40 g/m2), were found to be superior in I3 at later stages of crop growth over I1 (no irrigation) under rainfed conditions. However, yield parameters viz., number of cobs per plant (3.65), number of grains per cob (484.33), seed index (100-seed weight) (33.27 g), grain yield (65.94 q/ha), and stover yield (86.39 q/ha) were observed to be significantly higher under the three irrigation regimes than under the other two irrigation treatments. Under different planting geometries, S3 (75 × 25 cm) performed better in terms of growth-attributing characteristics, resulting in significantly higher growth parameters. S2 (60 × 15 cm) outperformed the other treatments in terms of yield, leading to significantly higher grain (54.83 q/ha) and stover (76.77 q/ha) yields, whereas the lowest grain (52.69 q/ha) and stover (76.66 q/ha) yields were recorded. Overall, the I₃ irrigation at the tasselling and silking stages combined with the S₃ (75 × 25 cm²) planting geometry enhanced crop growth and productivity, indicating its suitability for maize cultivation under the study conditions.