Vol. 9, Special Issue 10, Part L (2025)

The present field study was undertaken during the rabi seasons of 2023-24 and 2024-25 at Water Technology Centre, College Farm, College of Agriculture, Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, to evaluate the interaction effects of irrigation methods and UAV-based herbicide applications on the Physiological, Phenological Responses and biological yield of rabi maize. The experiment employed on split-plot design with two irrigation methods as main plots and six weed management treatments as subplots. The study assessed parameters such as plant population, leaf area at 60, 90 DAS and biological yield. Results revealed that irrigation method had no significant impact on plant population, though surface drip irrigation (I₂) recorded slightly higher values. Significant effects of irrigation method were observed on leaf area 60 and 90 DAS with I₂ showing superior performance due to frequent and uniform moisture availability. Among weed control treatments, conventional spray (W₄) and followed by UAV-based applications at higher spray volumes W₃ (60 l ha^-1) and W₂ (40 l ha^-1) were showing results at par with W₅ weed-free in leaf area and biological yield. The unweeded control (W₆) consistently showed the poorest performance due to intense crop-weed competition. Surface drip irrigation combined with effective weed control due to localized application of water leads to less germination of weeds and reducing competition from weeds particularly UAV-based or conventional herbicide applications, which control weeds effectively and enhance maize productivity by improving water and nutrient availability.