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The assessment of water use efficiency and crop performance of cotton-maize cropping sequence under deficit irrigation has not been thoroughly studied in India. Field experiments were conducted at the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore, during 2007-2009 to study the effect of deficit irrigation practices through a drip irrigation system on crop productivity, and the water use efficiency of cottonmaize cropping sequence. Experimental treatments comprised of six irrigation levels (full and deficit) through a drip system, with surface irrigation as one of the treatments for comparison. Maize was sown after hybrid cotton, under no-till conditions, without disturbing the raised bed and drip layout. Among deficit irrigation practices, mild deficit (ADI at 100% ETc once in three days) registered higher values for seed cotton yield (3670-3760 kg ha-(1)), grain yield of maize (7420-7590 kg ha-(1)) and water use efficiency (9.0 and 18.0-20.4 kg ha-(1) mm-(1) for cotton and maize, respectively). A significant second-degree polynomial relationship between crop yields and water use (WU) was found for both the crops. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.