Abstract
Precision agriculture and optimum fertigation are effective tools to obtain economical crop production. A multi seasonal
experiment was conducted on corn at Faisalabad, Pakistan during autumn seasons of 2017 and 2018 to optimize the use of
fertilizers and explore the effects of precision agriculture on crop production and fertilizer savings under drip irrigation. Three
rates of recommended dose of fertigation (RDF) i.e. 125%, 100% and75% RDF under precise application of fertilizer (PAF)
and recommended application of fertilizer (RAF) were evaluated in terms of crop response and fertilizer saving. According to
nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) concentration in soil, the experimental field was divided into three fertility
zones (high, medium and low) using kriging and overlay analysis for fertigation under PAF. Fertilizers under PAF were applied
according to soil fertility level, whereas fertilizers under RAF were applied as per recommendations (N:P:K=250:125:125
kg/ha). The results showed 65% irrigation water saving. The results regarding crop parameters showed that the treatments
under 125% RDF with RAF produced the highest plant height (176.3 cm), grain yield (8.43 t/ha), crop dry matter (17.97 t/ha)
and water productivity (4.79 kg/m3
). Although the treatments under RAF produced better grain yield (7.9 t/ha) as compared to
that under PAF (6.73 t/ha) but the treatments under PAF saved urea by 48%, DAP by 39% and SOP by 100% and eventually
produced higher benefit cost ratio:BCR (3.17) as compared to that under RAF (2.42). Therefore, it is recommended that
precision agriculture should be adopted for economical crop production and environmental protection.
Junaid Nawaz Chauhdary, Muhammad Arshad, Allah Bakhsh, Muhammad Rizwan, Basharat Hussain, Qamar Nawaz, Muhammad Zaman, Muhammad Awais, Aftab H. Azhar, Muhammad Arsalan. (2020) IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF PRECISION AGRICULTURE AND OPTIMIZATION OF FERTIGATION FOR CORN GROWTH, Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Volume 57, Issue 4.
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