Irrigation and Water Engineering

Irrigation and Water Engineering

Assessing the yield and yield components of maize (Zea mays) under different levels of partial root irrigation and biochar

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Maryam Dehghani Amadabadi
Department of Agriculture and Drainage, Faculty of technical and engineering, University of Payam Noor Tehran, Iran,
10.22125/iwe.2024.437154.1789
Abstract
Maize is one of the most productive grains following wheat and rice. In this regard, The so-called low-irrigation is considered as a method to save and manage water consumption. One of the low-irrigation practices is an irrigation method under which only a part of the root is irrigated. improve the soil condition is the use of organic fertilizers, including biochar. research was aimed to investigate the effect of different partial root irrigation treatments at two levels of 65 and 55 percent and to compare them with full irrigation. It was also aimed to use and compare different levels of biochar applications (0, 6 and 12 tons per hectare) on yield and yield components of maize in two cropping seasons. The yield components, grain yield and biomass of maize plants were measured after harvesting. The harvest index as well as the leaf area index was also calculated. The obtained results indicated that the treatment of 65 percent water demand was not significantly different from the full irrigation treatment in terms of grain yield. The increased quantity of applied biochar was led to increasing the maize seeds, so that, the treatment using 12 tons of biochar per hectare has the highest seed yield . The treatment without biochar has the lowest seed yield . The weight of 1,000 seeds in the treatment using 12 tons per hectare of biochar was 40 percent and 10 percent higher than the treatments without biochar and the one with 6 tons per hectare of biochar, respectively.
Keywords
low irrigation
organic fertilizer
harvest index
leaf area index
Subjects
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