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Irrigation Practice for Corn Production in Relation to Stage of Plant Development¹

ABSTRACT

An experiment involving 13 irrigation treatments was conducted on Tripp very fine sandy loam to study the importance of maintaining a low soil moisture tension during different stages of plant development on corn production. Corn was planted in 30-inch rows on soil that was near field capacity wetness to 6 feet and a stand of 19,000 plants per acre was obtained. Soil moisture determinations were made at the beginning of the season, before and after each irrigation and at the end of the season. Net water input from irrigation was measured. Plant sampling was initiated 33 days after planting and was repeated at weekly intervals in some treatments.

Corn production as shown by height measurements, dry matter production, ear development, and yield of grain was materially influenced by irrigation. A low soil moisture tension throughout the growing season (irrigated when a tension of 400 cm. water occurred at a 6-inch depth until July 23 and at a 12-inch depth later) was essential for obtaining maximum vegetative growth and a maximum yield of 153 bu./acre; the total use of water was 21.4 inches with 14.2 inches supplied by irrigation. Three irrigations supplying 7.0 inches of water that maintained a low soil moisture tension during the stage of growth before tasseling through silking produced 144 bu./acre; the total use of water was 15.6 inches. The latter practice may be important where there is a shortage of irrigation water during the regular season and the soil moisture supply can be replenished by precipitation or a later irrigation. Where a high soil moisture stress was alleviated during the tasseling period by an irrigation, there was an appreciable effect of that irrigation on yield of grain although the yield was appreciably less than where a low soil moisture tension was maintained throughout the tasseling and silking period. The fairly large yield of grain without irrigation (69 bu./acre) points out the importance of having the root zone filled with water at the time of planting.

¹ Contribution from the Nebraska Agr. Exp. Sta., Lincoln, Nebr., and the Soil and Water Conservation Research Branch, Agricultural Research Service of the U.S.D.A. Published with the approval of the Director as Paper No. 637, Journal Series, Nebraska Agr. Exp. Sta. Presented before Div. VI, Soil Science Society of America, Dallas, Tex., Nov. 18, 1953.

² Associate Agricultural Engineer, Western Section of Soil and Water Management, S&WCRB, U.S.D.A. and Professor of Agronomy and Agronomist, Western Section of Soil and Water Management, S&WCRB, U.S.D.A., respectively. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Everett A. Jenne and Ray Allmaras for valuable assistance and to the Agricultural Engineering Department for the loan of equipment and assistance in computing irrigation input.

Received for publication April 1, 1954.