NORMALIZED WATER PRODUCTIVITY FOR MAIZE CULTIVATION (Zea mays) IN CHAPINGO, MEXICO.

Abstract

The sustainable use of natural resources to satisfy the needs of current and future generations is an ongoing challenge. The use of renewable energies and the efficient use of water is becoming more and more relevant to society. Water is the main input in most industrial processes and the development of populations, as well as initiating germination in plant seeds. The efficient use of water in agricultural production is a step towards a better water management. The aim of the present study was to determine the normalized water productivity for the planting of maize (Zea mays) with experimental data. The highest value of water productivity is obtained when applying irrigation in a water table level 100% equal to the reference evapotranspiration (ET0 ) value. The study was carried out using maize with four supplementary irrigation treatments: 60, 80, 100 and 120% ET0 , and rainfed and in random blocks, with three replications per treatments. The normalized water productivity was determined using linear regression by the origin, between biomass (kg m-2) and accumulated transpiration, normalized by the reference evapotranspiration. The normalized water productivity for 100% ET0 was 23.30 g m-2. Maize yield increases when water is used efficiently for supplementary irrigation.