Productividad del agua en el cultivo de maíz en condiciones del sur de La Habana

Abstract

The high level at which water affects agricultural production and its capability of the latter to feed populations leads to the need of studying the problem of water productivity. The study of the crop water production function and its application in planning water use is an important strategy to increase water productivity. Data of 12 experiments carried out at the Irrigation and Draining Research Station, located in Alquizar at south of Havana Province (red ferralitic soils), and regression tools were used to estimate the crop water productivity (WP) and crop yield response factor (Ky) for corn. Crop water productivity based on evapotranspiration (WPET) ranges between 0.9 and 2.5 kg•m-3, while the WPI was 16.43 kg•m-3 when 266.8 m3•ha-1 of irrigation water were applied. The range 0.86 to 2.9 kg•m-3 of WPT obtained for corn was in a wider range than the that reported by FAO for this crop. Every cubic meter of total water used in corn yield 1.93 kg. The slope (Ky) of the corn water productivity function was 1.67 in winter and 2.31 in summer. The relative loss of yield was proportional to irrigation deficit in both seasons. For a planned irrigation deficit of 20 % for corn it will expect a relative loss of 33.4 and 46.2 % of yield, in winter and summer respectively.