THE EFFECT OF WATER STRESS ON RADIATION INTERCEPTION, RADIATION USE EFFICIENCY AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY OF MAIZE IN A TROPICAL CLIMATE

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of deficit irrigation on radiation capture, radiation use efficiency (RUE) and water use efficiency (WUE) in maize production, and to assess how these factors impact biomass production in water stress environments. Five irrigation levels were investigated: a full irrigation treatment with a water depth of 60 mm (I1), and four deficit irrigation treatments with depths of 50 (I2), 40 (I3), 30 (I4) and 20 mm (I5). Crop water stress index values indicated treatments I2 and I3 caused mild water stress while I4 and I5 caused severe stress. Water deficits significantly (p<0.05) reduced leaf area index compared to full irrigation. The reduction in biomass for I2 to I5 ranged between 7 and 43% relative to I1. In I1, the RUE was 3.46 g MJ-1, while mild and severe water stress significantly reduced it to 3.11 and 2.69 g MJ−1, respectively. A reduction in both intercepted photosynthetically active radiation and RUE contributed significantly to biomass reduction. Mild and severe water stress improved the WUE within range of 2 and 25% and 10 and 34%, respectively. The results suggest that in mild water stress environments, high RUE aids in minimizing production losses, and in cases of severe water stress, the reduced ability to capture and utilize radiation is compensated by improving the WUE.

Keywords

• biomass,crop water stress index,deficit irrigation,maize,photosynthetically active radiation

THE EFFECT OF WATER STRESS ON RADIATION INTERCEPTION, RADIATION USE EFFICIENCY AND WATER USE EFFICIENCY OF MAIZE IN A TROPICAL CLIMATE

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of deficit irrigation on radiation capture, radiation use efficiency (RUE) and water use efficiency (WUE) in maize production, and to assess how these factors impact biomass production in water stress environments. Five irrigation levels were investigated: a full irrigation treatment with a water depth of 60 mm (I1), and four deficit irrigation treatments with depths of 50 (I2), 40 (I3), 30 (I4) and 20 mm (I5). Crop water stress index values indicated treatments I2 and I3 caused mild water stress while I4 and I5 caused severe stress. Water deficits significantly (p<0.05) reduced leaf area index compared to full irrigation. The reduction in biomass for I2 to I5 ranged between 7 and 43% relative to I1. In I1, the RUE was 3.46 g MJ-1 , while mild and severe water stress significantly reduced it to 3.11 and 2.69 g MJ−1 , respectively. A reduction in both intercepted photosynthetically active radiation and RUE contributed significantly to biomass reduction. Mild and severe water stress improved the WUE within range of 2 and 25% and 10 and 34%, respectively. The results suggest that in mild water stress environments, high RUE aids in minimizing production losses, and in cases of severe water stress, the reduced ability to capture and utilize radiation is compensated by improving the WUE. 

Keywords

• biomass,crop water stress index,deficit irrigation,maize,photosynthetically active radiation

References

1. Akcay, S. and N. Dagdelen. 2016. Water use efficiency, yield and yield components of second crop sunflower under deficit irrigation. Turkish J. F. Crop. 21:190–199.
2. Albrizio, R. and P. Steduto. 2005. Resource use efficiency of field-grown sunflower, sorghum, wheat and chickpea I. Radiation use efficiency. Agric. For. Meteorol. 130:254–268.
3. Alderfasi, A.A. and D.C. Nielsen. 2001. Use of crop water stress index for monitoring water status and scheduling irrigation in wheat. Agric. Water Manag. 47:69–75.
4. Ashraf, U., M.N. Salim, A. Sher, S.R. Sabir, A. Khan, S. Pan and X. Tang. 2016. Maize growth, yield formation and water- nitrogen usage in response to varied irrigation and nitrogen supply under semi-arid climate. Turkish J. F. Crop. 21:88–96.
5. Brisson, N., C. Gary, E. Justes, R. Roche, B. Mary, D. Ripoche, D. Zimmer, J. Sierra, P. Bertuzzi, P. Burger, F. Bussière, Y.M. Cabidoche, P. Cellier, P. Debaeke, J.P. Gaudillère, C. Hénault, F. Maraux, B. Seguin and H. Sinoquet. 2003. An overview of the crop model STICS. Eur. J. Agron. 18:309– 332.
6. Candogan, B.N., M. Sincik, H. Buyukcangaz, C. Demirtas, A.T. Goksoy and S. Yazgan. 2013. Yield, quality and crop water stress index relationships for deficit-irrigated soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in sub-humid climatic conditions. Agric. Water Manag. 118:113–121.
7. Collino, D.J., J.L. Dardanelli, R. Sereno and R.W. Racca. 2001. Physiological responses of argentine peanut varieties to water stress. Light interception, radiation use efficiency and partitioning of assimilates. F. Crop. Res. 70:177–184.
8. Confalone, A., J.I. Lizaso, B. Ruiz-Nogueira, F.-X. LópezCedrón and F. Sau. 2010. Growth, PAR use efficiency, and yield components of field-grown Vicia faba L. under different temperature and photoperiod regimes. F. Crop. Res. 115:140–148.

9. Demetriades-Shaw, T.H., M. Fuchs, E.T. Kanemasu and I. Flitcroft. 1994. Further discussions on the relationship between cumulated intercepted solar radiation and crop growth. Agric. For. Meteorol. 68:231–242.
10. Dercas, N. and A. Liakatas. 2007. Water and radiation effect on sweet sorghum productivity. Water Resour. Manag. 21:1585–1600.
11. Djaman, K., S. Irmak, W.R. Rathje, D.L. Martin and D.E. Eisenhauer. 2013. Maize evapotranspiration, yield production functions, biomass, grain yield, harvest index, and yield response factors under full and limited irrigation. Am. Soc. Agric. Biol. Eng. 56:273–293.
12. Earl, H.J. and R.F. Davis. 2003. Effect of drought stress on leaf and whole canopy radiation use efficiency and yield of maize. Agron. J. 95:688–696.
13. Farré, I. and J.-M. Faci. 2009. Deficit irrigation in maize for reducing agricultural water use in a Mediterranean environment. Agric. Water Manag. 96:383–394.
14. Idso, S.B. 1982. Non-water-stressed baselines: a key to measuring and interpreting plant water stress. Agric. Meterology 27:59–70.
15. Igbadun, H.E., B.A. Salim, A.K.P.R. Tarimo and H.F. Mahoo. 2008. Effects of deficit irrigation scheduling on yields and soil water balance of irrigated maize. Irrig. Sci. 27:11–23.
16. Irmak, A., W.D. Batchelor, J.W. Jones, S. Irmak, J.O. Paz, H.W. Beck and M. Egeh. 2002. Relationship between plant available soil water and yield for explaining soybean yield variability. Appl. Eng. Agric. 18:471–482.
17. Irmak, S., D.Z. Haman and R. Bastug. 2000. Determination of crop water stress index for irrigation timing and yield estimation of corn. Agron. J. 92:1221–1227.
18. Jackson, R.D. 1982. Canopy temperature and crop water stress. p. 43–85. In Hillel, D. (ed.), Advances in Irrigation. Volume 1. Academic Press, New York.
19. Kiniry, J.R., C.A. Jones, J.C. O’toole, R. Blanchet, M. Cabelguenne and D.A. Spanel. 1989. Radiation-use efficiency in biomass accumulation prior to grain-filling for five grain-crop species. F. Crop. Res. 20:51–65.
20. Klocke, N.L., J.P. Schneekloth, S.R. Melvin, R.T. Clark and J.O. Payero. 2004. Field scale limited irrigation scenarios for water policy strategies. Appl. Eng. Agric. 20:623–631.
21. Kuscu, H., A. Karasu, M. Oz, A.O. Demir and I. Turgut. 2013. Effect of irrigation amounts applied with drip irrigation on maize evapotranspiration, yield, water use efficiency, and net return in a sub-humid climate. Turk J Field Crops. 18:13–19.
22. Lindquist, J.L., T.J. Arkebauer, D.T. Walters, K.G. Cassman and A. Dobermann. 2005. Maize radiation use efficiency under optimal growth conditions. Agron. J. 97:72–78.
23. Maqsood, M. and S.N. Azam-Ali. 2007. Effects of drought on growth, development, radiation use efficiency and yield of finger millet (Eleucine coracana). Pakistan J. Bot. 39:123– 134.
24. Mwale, S.S., S.N. Azam-Ali and F.J. Massawe. 2007. Growth and development of bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) in response to soil moisture 2. Resource capture and conversion. Eur. J. Agron. 26:354–362.
25. Nielsen, D.C. and B.R. Gardner. 1987. Scheduling irrigations for corn with the crop water stress index (CWSI). Appl. Agric. Res. 2:295–300.
26. O’Connell, M.G., G.J. O’Leary, D.M. Whitfield and D.J. Connor. 2004. Interception of photosynthetically active radiation and radiation-use efficiency of wheat, field pea and mustard in a semi-arid environment. F. Crop. Res. 85:111–124.
27. Omidi, A.H., Khazaei, H., Monneveux, P. and F. Stoddard. 2012. Effect of cultivar and water regime on yield and yield components in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). Turkish J. F. Crop. 17:10–15.
28. Panda, R.K., S.K. Behera and P.S. Kashyap. 2004. Effective management of irrigation water for maize under stressed conditions. Agric. Water Manag. 66:181–203.
29. Payero, J.O., N.L. Klocke, J.P. Schneekloth and D.R. Davison. 2006. Comparison of irrigation strategies for surfaceirrigated corn in West Central Nebraska. Irrig. Sci. 24:257– 265.
30. Perng, C.M. 2013. Taiwan Grain and Feed Annual Wheat, Corn and Milled Rice Situation and Outlook. Taipei, Taiwan.
31. Rahman, M.M. and M.M. Hossain. 2011. Plant density effects on growth, yield and yield components of two soybean varieties under equidistant planting arrangement. Asian J. Plant Sci. 10:278–286.
32. Ritchie, S.W., J.J. Hanway and G.O. Benson. 1992. How a corn plant develops. Ames, Iowa.
33. Sinclair, T.R., and R.C. Muchow. 1999. Radiation use efficiency. Adv. Agron. 65: 215–265.
34. Spiertz, H. 2012. Avenues to meet food security. The role of agronomy on solving complexity in food production and resource use. Eur. J. Agron. 43:1–8.
35. Steduto, P. and R. Albrizio. 2005. Resource use efficiency of field-grown sunflower,sorghum, wheat and chickpea II. Water use efficiency and comparison with radiation use efficiency. Agric. For. Meteorol. 130:269–281.
36. Stone, P.J., D.R. Wilson, J.B. Reid and R.N. Gillespie. 2001. Water deficit effects on sweet corn. I. Water use, radiation use efficiency, growth, and yield. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 52:103–113.
37. Teixeira, E.I., M. George, T. Herreman, H. Brown, A. Fletcher, E. Chakwizira, J. De Ruiter, S. Maley and A. Noble. 2014. The impact of water and nitrogen limitation on maize biomass and resource-use efficiencies for radiation, water and nitrogen. F. Crop. Res. 168:109–118.
38. Vadez, V., J. Kholova, S. Medina, A. Kakkera and H. Anderberg. 2014. Transpiration efficiency: new insights into an old story. J. Exp. Bot. 65:6141–6153.
39. Yazar, A., A.T. Howell, A.D. Dusek and S.K. Copeland. 1999. Evaluation of crop water stress index for LEPA irrigated corn. Irrig. Sci. 18:171–180.
40. Yi, L., Y. Shenjiao, L. Shiqing, C. Xinping and C. Fang. 2010. Growth and development of maize (Zea mays L.) in response to different field water management practices: Resource capture and use efficiency. Agric. For. Meteorol. 150:606– 613.