2023.08.03.129
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Estimation of water consumption of maize under climatic conditions of middle Iraq
Jamal Naser Abdel al rahman Alsadoon1, Haidar Abd al Mahdi
Kadim2 and Mustafa Iskander Zaid Al-Wardy2
1
Wasit University /
College of Agriculture; [email protected].
2
Wasit Agriculture
Directorate; [email protected].
* Correspondence:
[email protected].
Available from.
http://dx.doi.org/10.21931/RB/2023.08.03.129
ABSTRACT
The field experiment was conducted in season
2018 in central Kut district in Wasit Province, Iraq, with four treatments and
three replicates in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) to evaluate the
response of maize to different irrigation levels irrigated by basin-irrigation
method. Irrigation water was applied as 50%, 75%, 100%, and 125% of evaporation
from a Class A Pan. The results indicated that the highest ETc, total ETa and
grain yield were found in 125% Epan (716.7 mm, 799.2 mm and 9.600 t. ha-1),
respectively. At the same time, the lowest was found in 50% Epan. The highest
water use efficiency (WUE) was found in the Irrigation level (75% Epan) at
(1.402 kg. m-3), and the lowest was found in the irrigation level
(125% Epan) at (1.202 kg. m-3).
Keywords:
Irrigation levels, Ep%, ET, water consumption, grain
yield and WUE of maize.
INTRODUCTION
The irrigation studies
have made outstanding achievements in improving water efficiency and ensuring
food security but still have great potential for improving water use efficiency
in many field crops 6. Water is one of the most critical factors
affecting crop production and its movement through the soil-plant-atmosphere 13.
Water is an essential natural resource, and its increasing scarcity has led to
concerns for its efficient use, management, and sustainability 8
When irrigation is required, there are many available methods and management
strategies. The selection of the process and approach depends on factors such
as water availability, crop type, soil characteristics, land topography, and
associated cost 12. Water shortage is one of the main constraints
for economic development in arid and semi-arid areas. However, these areas must
promote public awareness regarding water-saving measures to develop the social
sustainability and extension of newly cultivated areas 10. Water
scarcity and drought are the major factors constraining agricultural crop
production in arid and semi-arid zones of the world. Irrigation is today the
primary consumer of fresh water on earth. Therefore, innovations for saving
water in irrigated agriculture and improving water use efficiency are paramount
in water-scarce regions 21. Scientists worldwide look to studies
correlated to water use efficiency (WUE), an important measure that shows the
relationship between the unit of dry matter produced and the unit of water
used. Thus, water use efficiency (WUE) is one way to analyze crops' response to
different conditions of water availability as it relates to the production of
dry biomass or commercial production with the amount of water applied by Evapotranspiration
or by culture 14. Evapotranspiration (E.T.) is the combination of
two different processes where water is lost from the soil surface, and the
surface leaves by evaporation and from plants by transpiration. 19.
The crop coefficient (Kc) is defined as the ratio between the actual
crop evapotranspiration (ETa) and the reference evapotranspiration
(ET0). 5. indicated a linear relationship between grain
yield of maize and seasonal irrigation water amount. Maize (Zea mays L.) is the
world's third most important cereal crop after wheat and rice 4.
Maize requires 600-700 mm of water for optimum growth and yield, depending upon
climatic conditions. 11.
The objectives of this
study are to determine the effect of irrigation levels during the growing
season on the production of maize and evaluate the water use efficiency of
basin-irrigated hybrid corn planted in the area of Iraq.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Experimental site
A field experiment with
basin-irrigated maize was conducted in the central Kut Nursery, Wasit
Agriculture Directorate season 2018, under ecological conditions of Kut
district in Wasit Province, Iraq. Soil samples were taken with a drill from
soil layers of 0 – 10, 10-20, 20-30 and 30-40 cm to determine the experimental
field's selected chemical and physical properties; 17 are summarized
in (Table 1). Moreover, some valuable climatic data from the practical site was
obtained from the Iraq Agrometeorological Network, Kut station. (Table 2).
Table 1. Chemical and physical
characteristics.
Table 2. Climate data of the
season 2018 for the Iraq Agrometeorological Network, Kut station.
Experimental design and treatments
The experiments were conducted using a
randomized complete block design with three replications; the area of each plot
was 6 m2. The irrigation treatments considered in the study were basin
irrigation equivalent to 50% (I1), 75% (I2), 100% (I3)
and 125% (I4) of evaporation from a Class A Pan (Epan).
Agronomic
practices
The maize hybrid (kalimeras) was planted at a
spacing of 0.25 m × 0.75 m on 5 August 2018. All treatment plots received the
same amount of fertilizer application at rates of 300 kg.ha-1 DAP
(Di Amino Phosphate, 18:46:0), which were applied uniformly to the field before
planting, and this was followed by 320 kg.ha-1 in the form of urea
(46% N), which was applied in banding along the rows on two doses, first when
six leaves appear and second after 30 days of the first dose.
Weeding was done manually when required to save
undue losses of nutrients and soil moisture. The harvest on 20 November 2018,
random samples of five guarded plants for each experimental unit were taken.
Grain yield (G.Y.) was determined per each experimental unit and then converted
to G.Y. t. ha-1.
Irrigation practices
and methodology
Water
was applied to all irrigation treatment plots simultaneously using a basin
irrigation method. Irrigation intervals were determined according to
evaporation from a Class A Pan. after that, irrigation treatment was started
according to the prescribed irrigation rates and the irrigation water
requirement to each plot during the entire growing season was calculated by
using the following equation 2:
V= a × d
------------- (1)
where:
V= Volume of added irrigation water (m3), a = Area of experimental
unit (m2), d= Irrigation depth (mm), equal to the depth of
evaporated water from the evaporation pan (Ep).
The
time of irrigation is calculated by using the following equation (2):
t=
a d / Q -------------(2)
where:
t= Irrigation time (h), Q= Discharge irrigation water (m3. h-1).
Reference evapotranspiration (ET0)
was determined from an evaporation pan (class A pan) installed near the
research site to record daily evaporation pan computed by following equation
(5):
ET0
= Kp × Epan ------------- (3)
Where:
Epan is evaporation from the class A pan (mm. day-1), and Kp is the
pan evaporation coefficient.
The
pan evaporation method measures the evaporation from the open water surface,
considering the cumulative effect of radiation, wind, humidity and temperature.
The applied irrigation water amount was calculated based on the depth of
evaporated water from the evaporation pan (d) according to equation (1), the
actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) was calculated by using the reference
evapotranspiration (ET0) and the crop coefficient (Kc), according to
equation (4)
Where:
ETa: actual Evapotranspiration (mm. day-1), Kc crop coefficient.
The
Kc values of maize used (0.5, 1.25, 1.35, and 0.86, at the germination,
vegetative growth, flowering and maturity stages, respectively) (6).
Water
use efficiency (WUE) was computed as the ratio of maize grain yield to the
volume of added water according to the following equation (21):
WUE
= Y / W ----------- (5)
Where:
Y: total grains yield (kg. ha-1), W:
volume of added water (m3. ha-1).
Statistical analysis
The data analysis were performed using the
GenStat program, and mean comparison was carried out by using the least
significant difference (LSD) test at probability levels of 0.05.
RESULTS
The results illustrated in (Table 3) showed the
effect of irrigation levels under the basin irrigation method on crop evapotranspiration
(ETc) of maize; the highest ETc value was (716.2 mm) observed when using 125 %
of evaporation from a Class A Pan. Meanwhile, the lowest value was (381.8 mm)
obtained with 50% evaporation from a Class A Pan under basin irrigation method.
Similar findings are reported by (3).
Data in Table (3) indicated the effect of
irrigation levels on actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) of maize crops. Results
illustrated that the highest ETa value was (798.7 mm) observed when using 125 %
of evaporation from a Class A Pan. While the lowest value was (464.3 mm)
obtained with 50% of evaporation from a Class A Pan. A similar result was
concluded by (7) and (20).
Irrigation levels significantly affected maize
crops' grain yield (Table 4). Maximum grain yield (9.600 t. ha-1)
was obtained when irrigation was applied at 125% of evaporation from a Class A
Pan. Minimum grain yield (6.440 t. ha-1) at 50 % of evaporation from
a Class A Pan. Similar results have been reported by (7) and (18).
Water use efficiency (WUE) was affected by
different irrigation levels (Table 4). Highest and lowest water use efficiency
of irrigation levels I2 and I4 (1.402 kg. m-3)
and (1.202 kg. m-3) respectively. These results agree with those of
(1) and (16).
Table 3. Effect of irrigation
levels on the average ETC and ETa of maize during the season 2018.
Table 4. Effect of irrigation
levels on the average grain yield, WUE of maize during the season 2018.
DISCUSSION
This study evaluated the effects of irrigation
levels and strategies on the yield of the basin-irrigated maize crop planted
under climatic conditions in middle Iraq in 2018.
Irrigation levels had a statistically
significant impact on the grain yield, E.T. and WUE. Applying the correct
amount of water is critical for crops sensitive to water stress. Therefore, the
total amount of water applied to plants during the growing period was necessary
15. Furthermore, the linear relationship existed between seasonal
water use and grain yield, and the declines in dry matter and grain yields
could be attributed to an increased soil water deficit 20.
Decreased irrigation amounts applied in deficit
irrigation treatments. Consequently, relative yield reduction 7. On
the other hand, the WUE values increased with the decreasing seasonal
irrigation amounts or seasonal water use 18. Hence, higher water use
efficiency values were observed under water stress treatment as compared to
regular irrigation, as shown in Tables ( 3 and 4). Eissa et al. (2017)
explained that the increase in irrigation water to 100% of the water
requirement increased the plant growth nutrients uptake, leading to increased
grain yield of maize22,23.
CONCLUSION
Based on the results of this research, It can be
concluded that the (ETc) was (381.8, 493.0, 604.6 and 716.2 mm). At the same
time, the total (ETa) was (464.3, 575.5, 687.1 and 798.7 mm) for irrigation
levels (50%, 75%, 100% and 125% of Epan), respectively. This study evaluated
the effect of different seasonal irrigation amounts on maize
evapotranspiration, grain yield and crop water use efficiency; on the other
hand, irrigation levels of 100% and 125% of Epan gave the highest grain yield
as about (9.420 and 9.600 t. ha-1), respectively The highest water
use efficiency (WUE) was 1.402 kg.m-3 at 75% of Epan. This research
indicated that irrigation with 100% and 125% of class A pan evaporation by a
basin irrigation method would be optimal under adequate water source
conditions.
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Received: 25 June 2023/ Accepted: 26 August 2023 / Published:15 September
2023
Citation: Jamal A.;
Haidar K .; Mustafa A. Estimation
of water consumption of maize under climatic conditions of middle Iraq. Revis
Bionatura 2023;8 (3) 129 http://dx.doi.org/10.21931/RB/2023.08.03.129