Maize Irrigation Management
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.
Soil Type | RU (mm) | Dosis (mm) at each Irrigation |
---|---|---|
Sand whitout organic matter | 50 | 20- 30 |
Light soil with stones | 70 | 20-30 |
Deep clay or deep silt | 150 – 200 | 40 |
Tchernozium | 150 – 200 |
More about maize
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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