Corn production with spray, LEPA, and SDI
Date
2011-02
Authors
Colaizzi, Paul D., author
Evett, Steven R., author
Howell, Terry A., author
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Abstract
Corn is a major irrigated crop in the U.S. Great Plains with a large irrigation requirement making efficient, effective irrigation technology important. The objective of this paper was to compare corn productivity for different irrigation methods and irrigation rates in 2009 and 2010 at Bushland, Texas. Irrigation methods included mid-elevation spray application (MESA), low elevation spray application (LESA), low energy precision application (LEPA), and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI). Each irrigation method was evaluated at four irrigation rates, which were 25, 50, 75, and 100% of meeting the full crop water requirement. There were no significant differences in grain yield and water use efficiency for MESA, LESA, and SDI for the 100% irrigation rate in 2009 and for all irrigation rates in 2010. In 2009, SDI resulted in significantly greater grain yield and water use efficiency compared with all other methods at the 50 and 75% irrigation rates; little measurable grain yield resulted for all methods at the 25% rate. However, 2009 was not a typical production year because an irrigation system failure occurred just before anthesis, and unusually high atmospheric demands followed, resulting in soil water shortages in all plots during the most water-sensitive development stages, with consistent lowering of grain yield. In both years, LEPA resulted in lower yield, soil water content, and water use efficiency compared with the other methods at the 75 and 100% rates, which was partially attributed to furrow dike erosion and plot runoff. The relative response of corn to MESA, LESA, LEPA, and SDI was much different compared with other crops that were evaluated in previous experiments; these included grain sorghum, soybean, and cotton.
Description
Presented at Proceedings of the 23rd annual Central Plains irrigation conference held in Burlington, Colorado on February 22-23, 2011.