Affiliation:
1. College of Resources and Environment, Xinjiang Agricultural University
2. College of biological and Geographical Sciences, Yi Li Normal University
3. Institute of Farmland Water Conservancy and Soil-fertilizer, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Reclamation Science
4. College of Grassland, Xinjiang Agricultural University
Abstract
Abstract
The application of drip irrigation has been paid more and more attention, but there was lack of systematic comparative analysis between drip irrigation and traditional irrigation for maize, currently. The goal of this study was to compare growth and water use efficiency as well as economic benefits while using drip irrigation or traditional irrigation for maize production in northwest China. An experiment was conducted during 2015–2021 in Shihezi in Xinjiang, China, that included drip irrigation (DI, 5400m3·hm− 2) treatment and traditional irrigation (TI, 7200 m3·hm− 2) treatment. The results showed the plant height, leaf area index, yield, water use efficiency and economic benefit of maize with drip irrigation had significantly higher than traditional irrigation. The dry matter translocation, the dry matter transfer efficiency and contribution of dry matter translocation to grain with drip irrigation showed significant increase of 27.44%, 13.97% and 7.85% compared to traditional irrigation, respectively. In comparison to traditional irrigation, the yield of drip irrigation increased by 18.42%, as well as water use efficiency (WUE) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) increased by 53.77% and 57.89%. The net return and economic benefit of drip irrigation was 1998.87 and 756.58 USD$·hm− 1 higher than that of traditional irrigation. Drip irrigation increased net return and benefit/cost ratio by 60.90% and 22.88% compared with traditional irrigation. These results demonstrate that the drip irrigation can effectively improve the growth, yield, water use efficiency and economic benefit of maize in northwest China. In the meanwhile, drip irrigation technology shows the potential to increase maize yield, but the decision to use drip irrigation should take into account economic benefits and environmental impacts. Therefore, drip irrigation can be used for maize cultivation to increase crop yield and water use efficiency in northwest China, which has cut down on irrigation water about 1800m3·hm− 2.
Publisher
Research Square Platform LLC
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