Agronomic performance of maize hybrids under supplemental irrigation depths

Abstract

The choice of a maize hybrid, considering the technology level and irrigation management, contributes to the improvement of the plant productivity and water use efficiency (WUE). Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of irrigation depths on production components, grain yield, technical efficiency, and WUE in maize hybrids. The experiment was conducted in Santiago, RS state, Brazil, in the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 crop seasons, using a randomized block design in factorial scheme, consisting of five irrigation depths (0, 50, 75, 100 and 125% of crop evapotranspiration ETc) and four maize hybrids in crop season I (2015/2016), and six maize hybrids in crop season II (2016/2017). The number of ears per plant, number of grains per ear, 100-grain weight, grain yield, and WUE were evaluated. The irrigation depths affected the 100-grain weight, grain yield and WUE in both crop seasons, and the number of grains per ear in crop season I. The irrigation depths increased the productive performance of the maize hybrids from 9.9 to 41% when using irrigation depths of maximum technical efficiency, which varied from 90.1 to 105.4% ETc. The AG9025, P1630 and DKB290 maize hybrids presented the best agronomic performances, with grain yields from 13,609.1 to 16,281.3 kg ha-1.