Abstract
Aim of study: This work summarizes the influence of surface drip irrigation (DI) and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) systems on corn growth indices and actual evapotranspiration (ETc-act) and its components of plant transpiration (Tp) and soil evaporation (E).Area of study: Karaj, IranMaterial and methods: The experimental soil was loamy. The corn ETc-act of each mini-lysimeter was measured based on the water balance method. The E was measured using two mini-lysimeters and Tp was estimated from the difference between ETc-act and E.Main results: The resulting data showed that the ETc-act was lower under SDI (384.8 mm) than under DI (423.4 mm). The Kcb-m for the corn increased after sowing and peaked during the mid-season stage, with an average value of 0.47, a minimum value of 0.0 and maximum value of 1.52 under DI and 0.53, 0.0 and 1.74 respectively, under SDI. For Ke-m, the average, minimum and maximum values were 0.33, 0.20 and 0.58 under DI and 0.23, 0.15 and 0.46 respectively, under SDI. The biomass yield was much higher under SDI (81.90 ton/ha) than under DI (63.21 ton/ha). Less E and more Tp occurred under SDI than under DI. SDI achived superior WUE (8.32 kg/m3) compared with DI.Research highlights: SDI was superior to DI based on biomass yield, corn height, stem diameter, and leaf area index which contributed to more favorable soil moisture conditions and low weed incidence; Thus, the SDI system is more productive and would better increase WUE than the DI system.
Highlights
Corn (Zea mays L.) is a major cereal crop in Iran, ranking third in cultivated area and production after wheat and rice
Given the importance of this crop and the decreasing availability of agricultural water resources, increasing water use efficiency (WUE) to produce more crops with the available water is highly important to stable agricultural development
The use of drip irrigation (DI) systems is an effective strategy for increasing water availability in the future (Enciso et al, 2015)
Summary
Corn (Zea mays L.) is a major cereal crop in Iran, ranking third in cultivated area and production after wheat and rice. Since the susceptibility of corn to drought is one of the production challenges in arid and semi-arid regions, providing enough irrigation water for its growth is required. The subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) system is the most efficient micro-irrigation methods in arid and semi-arid regions, where the evaporation rate is high during the growing season (Kalfountzos et al, 2007; Sharma et al, 2010). Under similar irrigation conditions, access to water and nutrients under SDI is increased and root rot and other soil diseases are minimized (Phene & Ruskin, 1995; Kalfountzos et al, 2007)
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