Abstract
BACKGROUND: Research on the agronomic and seed production responses of maize to deficit drip-irrigation is limited in the arid region of northwest China. A two-year field experiment including multi-growth stage deficit drip irrigation treatments was conducted in a randomized block design to evaluate their effects on photosynthesis, resource use efficiency, grain yield, and seed quality of maize. RESULTS: Results indicated that a mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15) had no detrimental impact on plant growth, photosynthetic attributes, and yield components. Instead, it significantly increased chlorophyll contents (9.1-22.2%), leaf area index (5.1-19.3%), dry matter (6.7-24.5%), irrigation water productivity (13.5-14.6%), and grain protein (13.2-13.8%) compared to full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK) in 2023-2024. The EJ15 increased the grain yield (2.6-6.3%) compared to WCK, but the difference was statistically not significant. On the other hand, deficit irrigation during late vegetative or/and reproductive stage markedly decreased the photosynthetic parameters, resource use efficiency, and resulted in the lowest maize yield in both years. CONCLUSION: Mild deficit irrigation during the early vegetative stages of maize can be used as a water-saving strategy for enhancing growth, water use efficiency, and seed quality without compromising the final yield in the arid region of northwest China.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by-nc-nd. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
Early mild deficit had no detrimental effect on growth, photosynthetic attributes and yield components.
- Treatment
- mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)e0
- Outcome
- plant growth, photosynthetic attributes, and yield componentse0
- Direction
- no detrimental impacte0
Zea maysNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15) had no detrimental impact on plant growth, photosynthetic attributes, and yield components”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Early mild deficit increased chlorophyll content by 9.1-22.2%.
- Treatment
- mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)e1
- Outcome
- chlorophyll contentse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 9.1-22.2%e0
- Comparator
- full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK)e2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“significantly increased chlorophyll contents (9.1-22.2%)”
e1“mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)”
e2“full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK)”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Early mild deficit increased leaf area index by 5.1-19.3%.
- Treatment
- mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)e1
- Outcome
- leaf area indexe0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 5.1-19.3%e0
- Comparator
- full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK)e2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increased chlorophyll contents (9.1-22.2%), leaf area index (5.1-19.3%)”
e1“mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)”
e2“full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK)”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Early mild deficit increased dry matter by 6.7-24.5%.
- Treatment
- mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)e1
- Outcome
- dry mattere0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 6.7-24.5%e0
- Comparator
- full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK)e2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increased chlorophyll contents (9.1-22.2%), leaf area index (5.1-19.3%), dry matter (6.7-24.5%)”
e1“mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)”
e2“full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK)”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Early mild deficit increased irrigation water productivity by 13.5-14.6%.
- Treatment
- mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)e1
- Outcome
- irrigation water productivitye0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 13.5-14.6%e0
- Comparator
- full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK)e2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increased chlorophyll contents (9.1-22.2%), leaf area index (5.1-19.3%), dry matter (6.7-24.5%), irrigation water productivity (13.5-14.6%)”
e1“mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)”
e2“full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK)”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Early mild deficit increased grain protein by 13.2-13.8%.
- Treatment
- mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)e1
- Outcome
- grain proteine0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 13.2-13.8%e0
- Comparator
- full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK)e2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increased chlorophyll contents (9.1-22.2%), leaf area index (5.1-19.3%), dry matter (6.7-24.5%), irrigation water productivity (13.5-14.6%), and grain protein (13.2-13.8%)”
e1“mild water deficit from emergence to the tasseling stage (EJ15)”
e2“full irrigation at all growth stages (WCK)”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Early mild deficit increased yield by 2.6-6.3%, without statistical significance.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The EJ15 increased the grain yield (2.6-6.3%) compared to WCK, but the difference was statistically not significant”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Late vegetative or reproductive deficit decreased photosynthetic parameters and resource use efficiency.
- Treatment
- deficit irrigation during late vegetative or/and reproductive stagee0
- Outcome
- photosynthetic parameters, resource use efficiencye0
- Direction
- decreasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“deficit irrigation during late vegetative or/and reproductive stage markedly decreased the photosynthetic parameters, resource use efficiency”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Late vegetative or reproductive deficit resulted in the lowest yield.
- Treatment
- deficit irrigation during late vegetative or/and reproductive stagee0
- Outcome
- maize yielde0
- Direction
- loweste0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“deficit irrigation during late vegetative or/and reproductive stage markedly decreased the photosynthetic parameters, resource use efficiency, and resulted in the lowest maize yield in both years”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend early mild deficit irrigation as a water-saving strategy.
- Outcome
- water-saving strategy for enhancing growth, water use efficiency, and seed quality without compromising the final yielde0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Mild deficit irrigation during the early vegetative stages of maize can be used as a water-saving strategy for enhancing growth, water use efficiency, and seed quality without compromising the final yield”
The same questions in other papers
drought · quality: protein · Zea mays (maize)Results differ
6 papers in the same direction as this paper · 25 in the opposite direction · 1 reporting no difference from an alternative
- negative
- negative
- negative
29 papers more in this group
See all 33 papers →irrigation · physiology: photosynthesis · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
16 papers in the same direction as this paper · 30 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
43 papers more in this group
See all 47 papers →drought · physiology: pigments · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
9 papers in the same direction as this paper · 75 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- negative
81 papers more in this group
See all 85 papers →drought · physiology: photosynthesis · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
107 papers in the same direction as this paper · 13 in the opposite direction
- positive
- positive
- positive
117 papers more in this group
See all 121 papers →drought · physiology: water · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
38 papers in the same direction as this paper · 116 in the opposite direction
- positive
- negative
- negative
151 papers more in this group
See all 155 papers →drought · growth · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
76 papers in the same direction as this paper · 306 in the opposite direction · 2 reporting no difference from an alternative
- negative
- negative
- negative
381 papers more in this group
See all 385 papers →irrigation · yield · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
224 papers in the same direction as this paper · 791 in the opposite direction
- positive
- no effect
- negative
1,012 papers more in this group
See all 1,016 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.