Effects of irrigation amount on soil water,water consumption and yield of spring maize in Northwestern China

ZHAO Jinghua; YUAN Ruxin; WANG Jinmao; MENG Xinmei; YANG Tingrui

doi:10.13522/j.cnki.ggps.2023501

Abstract：[Objective]The production of spring maize in Northwestern China relies on irrigation.The purpose of this paper is to investigate experimentally the impact of irrigation amount on the yield,water consumption of the maize,as well as soil water dynamics.[Method]The field experiment was conducted from may to september 2021 at the Karamay Agricultural Comprehensive Development Zone.It comprised six treatments by irrigating the maize at:225 m3/hm2(W1),300 m3/hm2(W2),375 m3/hm2(W3),450 m3/hm2(W4),525 m3/hm2(W5),and 600 m3/hm2(W6).In each treatment,we measured the spatiotemporal change in soil water,as well as ultimate yield and water consumption of the crop.[Result]① Regardless of irrigation amounts,soil water content increased with soil depth first and then declined,followed by another increase in the soil depth from 0 to 100 cm.Compared with the other five treatments,W5 increased soil water storage in the 0-100 cm of soil by 2.35%-9.11%,0.21%-4.37%,0.39%-1.79%,0.60%-4.48%at trumpet stage,tasseling stage,milk stage,and full maturity stage,respectively.② At maturity stage,the 100-grain weight in W5 was significantly higher than that in W1 and W2,but was comparable to that in W3,W4 and W6.W5 also increased the grain number per spike by 10.49%-36.01%and the spike length by 8.31%-27.12%,compared with the other five treatments.③ The results obtained from of the analysis of the comprehensive evaluation model showed the comprehensive evaluation index of W5 was 525 m3/hm2,the highest among all treatments.[Conclusion]Irrigating10 times,with the total irrigation amount being 525 m3/hm2 during the whole growing season is optimal for spring maize production in the Karamay region in Northwestern China.