Effects of Water Supply Intensity and Nitrogen Form on Maize Growth

Zhuang Xulong; Li Longxiang; Wang Weiran; Wei Wenliang; Liu Shutang

doi:10.14083/j.issn.1001-4942.2025.02.015

Abstract：The interaction of water supply intensity and nitrogen form on maize growth indicators and root characteristics is of great significance to maize production.In this study,a pot experiment was conducted through a two-factor design with 3 water supply intensities,namely adequate water supply(W1,80％～85％of field water capacity),light water stress(W2,65％～70％of field water capacity)and moderate water stress(W3,50％～55％of field water capacity),and 2 nitrogen forms,namely ammonium nitrogen(N1)and ni-trate nitrogen(N2).The effects of different water and fertilizer treatments on maize plant height,leaf area,root characteristics and biomass were studied.The results showed that the maize plant height,leaf area,root volume,root length,total root absorption area,active root absorption area,aboveground and root biomass and water use efficiency of N1W1 treatment were the largest,and those of N1 treatment was significantly higher than those of N2 treatment with the increase amplitude as 29.48％,127.18％,144.29％,70.23％,187.93％,171.01％,180.82％,39.48％and 200.41％,respectively.Compared with W2 and W3 treatments,the maize plant height increased by 13.49％and 39.87％under W1 treatment,the leaf area increased by 52.09％and 63.87％,the root volume increased by 71.36％and 65.33％,the root length increased by 71.86％and 50.67％,the total root absorption area increased by 64.41％and 60.34％,the active absorption area increased by 65.76％and 71.72％,the aboveground biomass increased by 58.70％and 63.15％,the root biomass in-creased by 32.13％and 29.62％,and the water use efficiency increased by 129.19％and 30.18％.Mean-while,W2 and W3 treatments significantly reduced the maize biomass and water use efficiency compared to W1 under the condition of ammonium nitrogen application,while there were no significant differences among the three water supply intensities under the condition of nitrate nitrogen application.Overall,in the conditions of this experiment,N1W1 was the most beneficial treatment to promote maize growth and increase water use efficiency,and the effects of ammonium nitrogen was better than that of nitrate nitrogen,but the application of nitrate nitrogen could alleviate the restriction of water stress on maize growth to a certain extent.