Impacts of dairy farm’s wastewater irrigation on growth and yield attributes of maize

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the experimental field of the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) to investigate the effects of dairy farm’s wastewater irrigation on maize (Zea mays L. cv. BARI hybrid-9) production and soil health during 5 February 2016 through 14 May 2016. Two factors were involved in the experiment: irrigation and fertilizer. Irrigation had three treatments - I₁: Irrigation with fresh water, I₂: Irrigation with mixed water (fresh water: dairy farm’s wastewater = 1:1) and I₃: Irrigation with raw wastewater. There were three fertilizer treatments - F₀: No fertilizer, F₁: Half of recommended dose fertilizer and F₂: Full dose fertilizer. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three replications. The irrigation treatments were applied in the main plots and the fertilizer treatments in the sub-plots. Maize was grown with two irrigations applied at 28 and 86 days after sowing (DAS). Wastewater contained different nutrients and organic matter, which optimistically contributed to the growth and yield attributes of maize. Various growth and yield data of the crop were recorded. For the effect of irrigation water quality, the highest grain yield (10.89 t ha^-1) was obtained under I₃ and the lowest grain yield (7.95 t ha^-1) was obtained under I₀. For the effect of fertilizer, the highest grain yield (11.70 t ha^-1) was obtained under F2 and the lowest yield (8.56 t ha^-1) was obtained under F₀. The interaction effect between irrigation and fertilizer exerted significant impact on grain yield of maize. The highest grain yield (11.41 t ha^-1) and water use efficiency (2125 kg ha^-1 cm^-1) were obtained under I₃F₀ (wastewater irrigation with no fertilizer application) and I₃F₂, respectively. The lowest values of grain yield (7.657 t ha^-1) and water use efficiency for grain production (697.3 kg ha^-1 cm^-1) were obtained under I₁F₀. The highest 1000-grain weight of 417.7 g was obtained under I₃F₂ and the lowest of 239.7 g was obtained under I1F0.