Fertilisation and irrigation effects on maize (Zea mays L.) grain production

Abstract

Research has shown that the two most important factors in maize yield formation in Hungary are water and nutrient supply. Utilising eleven years of data from a long-term maize field experiment at the Debrecen University Latokep Experimental Station, the interaction between irrigation and nutrient supply of maize was analysed. Calculations were made to determine the schedule of irrigation based on soil moisture, precipitation, and transpiration. The experiment had three levels of nutrient supply: plots without fertilisation (Tl); fertilised plots at rates of 120 kg ha−1 N, 90 kg ha−1 P and 106 kg ha−1 K (T2); and fertilised plots of 240 kg ha−1 N, 180 kg ha−1 P and 216 kg ha−1 K (T3). Statistical methods of stability and relative stability analysis were used to evaluate the effects of irrigation and fertilisation on grain yield. Nutrition treatments behaved differently in non-irrigated and irrigated plots. Without irrigation, if the environment was unfavourable the control yield was greater and more stable than fertilised treatments. In high yielding environments, fertilised treatments produced similar amounts grain. In the case of irrigation, the yield of fertilised plots exceeded the yield of the control, irrespective of the environment. In irrigated plots, fertilised treatments reacted similarly, but the most stable treatment was treatment T2.