Drip irrigation studies were conducted in aerobic rice during Dry Season (DS), 2011 and Summer Season (SS) 2012 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Drip irrigation treatments comprised of three levels of lateral distance (0.6, 0.8 or 1.0 m lateral distance) with the two discharge rates (0.6 or 1.0 L h -1 emitters) in DS 2011. In SS 2012, the micro irrigation treatments namely; surface, sub surface drip irrigation SDI with two discharge rates (0.6 or 1.0 L h-1 emitters) with 0.8 m lateral distance and a lysimeter based irrigation treatment were applied. Among the lateral distances, 0.8 m lateral distance registered as the optimum spacing for the better performance in root characters, growth and yield attributes than rest of the lateral distances. From the surface-drip and sub-surface drip irrigation SDI treatments, the SDI performed better in terms of root character, growth and yield attributes. Among the discharge rates, 1.0 L h-1 drippers outperformed 0.6 L h-1 drippers in terms of water use efficiency and grain yield. Interactively, laterals spaced at 0.8 m with 1.0 L h-1 drippers laid sub surface-drip through fertigation exhibited better performance in terms of root parameters (such as root length, Root Mass Density, root biomass and root volume) along with growth attributes (Leaf Area Index, Specific Leaf Weight, Crop Growth Rate and Net Assimilation Rate), yield and its components (such as productive tillers, spikelet numbers, filled grain percentage and Harvest Index) along with water productivity when compared with the conventional irrigation treatment. Therefore, it is suggested that the lateral spacing of 0.8 m with 1.0 L h-1 drippers when the plants spaced at 20 cm × 10 cm with SDI through fertigation is adjudged as the best treatment for aerobic rice cultivation in enhancing the values for water productivity and grain yield in areas of limited water availability.