CORN YIELD RESPONSE TO IRRIGATION INTERVAL AND THE RESULTANT SAVINGS IN WATER AND OTHER OVERHEADS

The aim of this project was to conduct research into the effect of irrigation interval, using drip irrigation, on the depletion of available soil moisture and on corn yield, and the possible savings it might bring about in water, manpower, energy and other overheads. The experiments were carried out between 2000 and 2001 in the plain of Thessaly, central Greece. The experimental field had a complete randomized block design and consisted of three treatments (i.e. irrigation every 2, 5 and 9 days) for four replicates. Daily measurements were taken of the soil moisture content using the time domain reflectrometry (TDR) method and the depletion of available soil moisture was calculated. The amount of water used in each irrigation session was equal to the cumulative evapotranspiration between two successive irrigation sessions as measured using evaporation pan type A. Results showed that irrigation could be carried out every nine days instead of every two or even five days, thus bringing about substantial savings in the consumption of water. In addition, other overheads such as manpower, energy, etc. could be cut down with no statistically significant difference in crop yield. Copyright (0 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.