Good irrigation management offers the potential to double your yields.

Maize Irrigation

Maize is a plant with high water efficiency and when partnered good irrigation management there is the potential to double your yields. Twenty-five percent of maize crops in Europe are irrigate. Here are some key points to manage your irrigation. 

Maize Water Requirements

During key growth periods maize is highly sensitive to a water deficit. The key management periods that impacts yield is the period from 20 to 30 days before flowering (8-10 leaf stage) to 10-15 days after, and even during the grain fill phase (from end June to mid-August).  

For fields under irrigation, taking into consideration the soil type and the year’s climatology, the following are the average needs of maize: 

Maize water needs throughout its cycle

Impact of soil types 

Irrigation frequency and volume will depend on soil type, corn stage, climate and type of irrigation. For maize, depending on situations the water brought by irrigation can vary from 100 to 700 mm annually. 

Water capacity (RU): Water quantity in the soil available for plants.

Irrigation Strategies

For Limited Water Availability

  • Concentrate water input during critical stage (see above)
  • Use maximum of water before grain abortion limit stage
  • Prefer lower irrigation volume with higher frequency

Rainfall event greater than 10 mm

  • Save water
  • Stop irrigation for 1 day for each 5 mm of rain received

Area with hot weather and a long growing season

  • Rainfall event greater than 10 mm
  • Area with hot weather and a long growing season

Do not hesitate to increase frequency while decreasing water quantity of each irrigation application. For example, 6 irrigation events of 25 mm are better than 5 irrigation events of 30 mm of water. 

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Our local teams visit farms and distributors on-site to give you the best advice for your location. Find your local MAS Seeds® consultant by visiting a country website or fill out our contact form here.