Effect of Pulsed Management in Drip Irrigation on Yield, Yield Components and Water Productivity of Silage Maize

Water scarcity across the world has led researchers to develop a new irrigation technique called pulsed drip irrigation in order to improve soil moisture distribution as well as to increase water productivity. Pulsed drip irrigation refers to irrigating for a short period then waiting for another short period and repeating this On-Off cycle until the entire irrigation depth is applied. In this study, the combined effects of pulsed drip irrigation and its On-Off time duration on yield, yield components and water productivity of silage maize under two growing seasons (spring and summer) were evaluated. The selected experimental design was split-plot in completely randomized block design with three replicates. The treatments were consisted of four pulsed drip irrigations (P1, P2, P3, P4) and two Off-Time duration, 1 and 3 times of On-Time duration in a pulse (T1, T2). Results indicated that the interaction of the studied treatments on yield, yield components and water productivity of silage maize is significant. The maximum dry yield and water productivity was 25.86 (ton/ha) and 5.95 (kg/m3) in (T2 P4) treatment (average of two growing seasons) which increased by about 17% compared to (T1 P1) treatment. Increasing the number of irrigation pulses to four times lead to 6% and 17% increase in the studied parameters, respectively, in T1 and T2 treatments. Consequently, based on the positive effect of increasing the Off-Time duration in applying pulsed drip irrigation with high flow rate, it is suggested that the ratio of Off-Time to On-Time duration should be increased.