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Title: The Effects of Drip Irrigation and Fertilizer Rate on Corn Yield and Soil Salinity in the Arkansas River Valley

Author
item BERRADA, ABDEL - CSU-AVRC, ROCKY FORD, CO
item Halvorson, Ardell
item BARTOLO, MICHAEL - CSU-AVRC, ROCKY FORD, CO
item VALIANT, JIM - CSU-AVRC, ROCKY FORD, CO

Submitted to: Technical Report
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/14/2006
Publication Date: 10/1/2007
Citation: Berrada, A., Halvorson, A.D., Bartolo, M., Valiant, J. 2007. The Effects of Drip Irrigation and Fertilizer Rate on Corn Yield and Soil Salinity in the Arkansas River Valley. In Colorado Agric. Exp. Sta. Technical Report TR07-14, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. p. 6-12.

Interpretive Summary: A field experiment was conducted at the Arkansas Valley Research Center (AVRC) in 2005 to test the effects of irrigation type and scheduling and fertilizer rate on corn yield and soil salinity. Four N (0, 60, 120, and 180 lb N/acre) and four manure (0, 10, 20, and 30 t/acre) application rates were compared under full and deficit subsurface drip (SDI) and furrow (FrI) irrigation. The results show no significant difference in corn yield between SDI and FrI, even though nearly twice as much water was applied with FrI than with SDI. Deficit irrigation decreased corn yields since water was withheld during two critical growth states, silking and milk. Corn did not respond to N fertilizer rates beyond 60 lb N/acre under deficit irrigation, while 30 tons of manure/acre depressed the yield due to stand loss. Under full irrigation, the highest yield was obtained with 180 lb N/acre which was more than the recommended rate of 120 lb N/acre. Manure increased soil salinity early in the season, which contributed to lower plant population compared to the non-manure treatments. Higher electrical conductivity values were observed after corn harvest at the 4- to 6-ft soil depth under SDI than under FrI, probably due to the greater leaching potential of FrI

Technical Abstract: A field experiment was conducted at the Arkansas Valley Research Center (AVRC) in 2005 to test the effects of irrigation type and scheduling and fertilizer rate on corn yield and soil salinity. Four N (0, 60, 120, and 180 lb N/acre) and four manure (0, 10, 20, and 30 t/acre) application rates were compared under full and deficit subsurface drip (SDI) and furrow (FrI) irrigation. The results show no significant difference in corn yield between SDI and FrI, even though nearly twice as much water was applied with FrI than with SDI. Deficit irrigation decreased corn yields since water was withheld during two critical growth states, silking and milk. Corn did not respond to N fertilizer rates beyond 60 lb N/acre under deficit irrigation, while 30 tons of manure/acre depressed the yield due to stand loss. Under full irrigation, the highest yield was obtained with 180 lb N/acre which was more than the recommended rate of 120 lb N/acre. Manure increased soil salinity early in the season, which contributed to lower plant population compared to the non-manure treatments. Higher electrical conductivity values were observed after corn harvest at the 4- to 6-ft soil depth under SDI than under FrI, probably due to the greater leaching potential of FrI.