ROLE OF MANAGEMENT PARTIAL FURROW IRRIGATION, ORGANIC AND BIO FERTILIZERS ON WATER CONSUMPTIVE USE OF ZEA MAYS L. UNDER WATER SCARCITY

A field experiment was conducted in the Yusufiyah region, Baghdad Governorate, to cultivate maize during the fall agricultural season of 2022. The study was designed using a randomized complete block design arranged in a split-plot layout with three replications. The main plots included different irrigation treatments: conventional furrow irrigation, alternate partial root-zone irrigation, and fixed partial root-zone irrigation. The subplots involved different fertilization treatments: mineral NPK fertilizer applied according to the recommended rate for maize, 50% mineral fertilizer combined with biofertilizer (Azotobacter chroococcum as nitrogen-fixing bacteria and Pseudomonas fluorescens as phosphate-solubilizing bacteria), 50% mineral fertilizer combined with natural organic fertilizer (Orgevit), and 50% mineral fertilizer combined with both the biofertilizer and the organic fertilizer. The organic and biofertilizer + 50% mineral fertilization treatment under alternate furrow irrigation recorded the lowest water consumption at 275 mm per season, followed by the organic fertilizer + 50% mineral fertilization treatment under alternate furrow irrigation, which recorded a water consumption of 310 mm per season. Water productivity values were 1.73, 2.95, and 1.97 kg m⁻³ for conventional furrow irrigation, alternate furrow irrigation, and fixed partial root-zone irrigation, respectively.