A field experiment using poor quality groundwater was conducted at Nandagaon village of Mudhol taluk in Bagalkot district of Karnataka during kharif 2003-04 and 2004-05 to study the effect of sub-surface drainage and amendments on the uptake of nutrients by maize revealed that uptake of N, P, K, and Ca by maize was higher as compared to magnesium and sodium uptake in sub-surface drainage plots than no drainage plots.