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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Water Management and Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #392389
Research Project: Improving the Sustainability of Irrigated Farming Systems in Semi-Arid Regions

Location: Water Management and Systems Research

Title: Optimizing dryland farm productivity using relationships among crop water use, planting density, and yield performance

Author
item DEWEY, CAROLINE - Colorado State University
item SCHNEEKLOTH, JOEL - Colorado State University
item SCHIPANSKI, MEAGAN - Colorado State University
item Comas, Louise

Submitted to: Annual American Geophysical Union Hydrology Days
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/6/2022
Publication Date: 9/21/2022
Citation: Dewey, C., Schneekloth, J., Schipanski, M., Comas, L.H. 2022. Optimizing dryland farm productivity using relationships among crop water use, planting density, and yield performance. In: Student Showcase. 42nd Annual AGU Hydrology Days, April 25-27, 2022, Fort Collins, Colorado. p. 36.

Interpretive Summary: n/a

Technical Abstract: One of the most prevailing challenges to food security is increasingly variable water availability. In order for producers to optimize crop yield and farm productivity in a changing climate, resources must reflect a better understanding of the relationship between water use, management, and yield performance in dryland conditions. However, little data exists to test optimal planting density under water limiting conditions for maize. We explored the effect of planting density on water limited crop productivity in the context of dryland maize production, conducting a field experiment in eastern Colorado. The objectives of this study were to (1) investigate the relationship between water availability and population density on grain yield response in dryland systems and (2) identify the best model of the yield-density/water response. We measured grain yield, aboveground biomass, and chlorophyll fluorescence, and determined crop water use. Preliminary results suggest crop water use had a greater positive effect on grain yield than population density with no interaction between water and density. Treatments with greater water availability exhibited a yield-density response that approaches that of constant final yield, which is a constant yield that cannot increase further. Lower water availability did not show a yield increase with planting density. The results of this experiment will increase the understanding of yield performance in drought-prone environments, informing efforts to increase resiliency and water use efficiency, and economic returns for dryland farmers.