An Investigation of the Yield and Water Productivity of Fodder Corn under the Combined Effect of Different Irrigation Levels and the Depth of Drip Line

In spite of the drought conditions and lack of water in most parts of Iran, fodder corn is one of the main producers of silage fodder in the country. For the purpose of investigating the effects of subsurface drip irrigation systems on fodder corn cultivation and determining the efficiency of water consumption, a split plot design was conducted at Jopar Kerman Agricultural Research Station for a period of two crop years using randomized complete block designs with three replications. In the research, three levels of irrigation (I1=100, I2=75, and I3=50 percent of the water requirement) were assessed as the main factor, and two depths of subsurface pipes with drippers (inline) were assessed as the submain factor. Among the treatments of different irrigation levels, the treatment of 100% water requirement obtained the highest yield by producing 77250kg/ha of wet fodder and 15447kg/ha of dry fodder. A 20% and 52% yield difference was observed between the 100% water demand treatment and the 75% and 50% water demand treatments. In terms of WP, there was a significant difference between the two treatments of 30 cm soil depth and 40 cm soil depth; the highest WP was observed in the 30 cm soil depth treatment. In both years of the study, the irrigation treatment of 50% of the water requirement had the lowest WP (average 1.2 kg/m3). Additionally, the average amount of water consumed by the treatments of 50, 75, and 100% of fodder corn water requirements was 3200, 4100, and 5200 m3/ha, respectively. As a result of the results of this research, it has been recommended that for the production of fodder corn in the Jopar Kerman region, a planting depth of 30 cm with a 100% water requirement under subsurface drip irrigation with a water consumption of 5200 m3/ha will be used