Efficacy Of Single Drip Lateral Design For Two Plant Rows Of Grain Maize In Konya-Kadinhani-Kolukisa Province, Turkey

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of trickle irrigation on grain-corn production as well as soil wetting geometry under single drip lateral design for two plants rows at Konya-Kadınhanı-Kolukısa province of Turkey under farmer’s practices. The seasonal applied water varied from 416.78 to 441.98 mm in research farms. The grain yield was found between 14200 and 16750 kg/ha in those study farms. Irrigation Water Use Efficiency, IWUE, varied from 3.21 and 3.93 kg/m3. The both the lateral and vertical wetting front was around 50 cm under 140 cm lateral space. The field inspection clearly showed that it is impossible to obtain sufficient wetted soil volume by use of one trickle lateral design, 140 cm, for two plant rows so one drip lateral design,70 cm, for each crop row was strongly recommended for facilitating better wetted soil volume within plant rooting depth consequently increasing grain production. Maize plant is very sensitive to the water deficiency so water amount should be met enough in soil rooting environment during the whole plant growing cycles.