TITLE:
Yield and Water Use Efficiency of Green Maize Planted in Conditions Brazilian Semiarid
AUTHORS:
Edvaldo Eloy Dantas Junior, Lúcia Helena Garófalo Chaves
KEYWORDS:
Potassium, Drip Irrigation, Productivity, Zea mays L.
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.5 No.6,
May
15,
2014
ABSTRACT: This study investigated the water use efficiency and yield for the production
of green ears of corn subjected to irrigation with drip system and with potassium
fertilizer levels in Sumé, Paraiba State, Brazil. The experimental design was a
randomized design with four replications in a split plot design with six water slides
(0.25 ETcp, 0.50 ETcp, 0.75 ETcp, 1.00 ETcp, 1.25 ETcp and 1.50 ETcp) and six doses
of potassium (0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 kg·ha-1). The maize hybrid AG
1051 was mechanically sown on 13/01/2012 and the spikes in the green stage (doughy
grains) were harvested 67 days after planting. Water consumption for producing one
ton of maize cobs in the slides 132, 264, 396, 528, 660, and 792 mm of water within
all treatments of potassium fertilization increased, indicating that the WUE decreases
with the increasing amount of water applied via irrigation. Therefore, it was observed
that the water use efficiency average was 61.76 mm·t-1 (2.02 kg·m3), i.e.
for each m3 of water used 2.02 kg of ears of corn were produced with
default. The application of 680.64 mm of water and 72.14 kg·ha-1 potassium
maximized the yield of ears, resulting in the maximum yield of ears of 10.82 t·ha-1.