Yield of maize crop irrigated with saline waters

Valdécio Dos S Rodrigues,Francisco M L Bezerra,Kelly N Leite,Jamili N Fiusa,Thales V De A Viana,Geocleber G De Sousa

doi:10.1590/1807-1929/agriambi.v24n2p101-105

Abstract

ABSTRACT The growing competition for good-quality water is forcing the use of saline water for irrigation in several areas around the world. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of different electrical conductivities of irrigation water on the maize production aspects. The study was conducted in the field from August to December 2017 at the Experimental Farm of the Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira (UNILAB), Redenção, CE, Brazil. A randomized complete block design with five irrigation water salinity (1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 dS m-1) and four repetitions was used. The evaluated variables were: unhusked and husked ear weights, husked ear length and diameter, cob weight, 1000-grain weight and yield. The increase of salt concentration in irrigation water reduced the unhusked and husked ear weights, cob weight, 1000-grain weight and yield. Ear length and diameter were not influenced by the increase in water salinity.

Highlights

The growth of the world’s population is reaching a point at which good-quality water is becoming insufficient for the basic needs of mankind, including irrigation of farmland, as well as industrial and urban uses (Ashraf et al, 2017)
According to the regression analysis (Figure 1A), a quadratic polynomial model fitted to the data of unhusked ear weight (UEW), which reached maximum value (77.05 g) at water salinity of 2.34 dS m-1, being reduced by 36.86% when plants were irrigated with 5 dS m-1, compared to 1.0 dS m-1
The reduction of this variable is the consequence of the accumulation of salts in the soil, which in turn negatively affects the good development of the plant throughout its cycle and, the fruit

Summary

Introduction

The growth of the world’s population is reaching a point at which good-quality water is becoming insufficient for the basic needs of mankind, including irrigation of farmland, as well as industrial and urban uses (Ashraf et al, 2017). The gap between water supply and demand is increasing due to unequal distribution of water resources and rapid socioeconomic development, in arid and semiarid regions of the world (Ashraf et al, 2015). Several studies with salinity in the maize crop were carried out in various regions, especially those of arid and semiarid climate (Nazário et al, 2013; Yu et al, 2014; Feng et al, 2017), and found reduction in plant development and yield, but there are few studies citing the influence of irrigation water salinity on plants of local varieties used by small producers

Objectives

Methods

Results