Effects of partial root-zone irrigation on yield and water use efficiency of sticky maize under the integrated management of water and fertilizer

In order to investigate an efficient model of water and fertilizer supply,a pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of partial root-zone irrigation on dry mass accumulation,yield and water use of sticky maize under the integrated management of water and fertilizer.Three irrigation methods were designed in the experiment,i.e.conventional irrigation(CI),alternate partial root-zone irrigation(APRI) and fixed partial root-zone irrigation(FPRI),and three fertilization treatments,i.e.100% conventional fertilization(F1),100% fertilization with integrated management of water and fertilizer(F2) and 80% fertilization with integrated management of water and fertilizer(F3).The results showed that compared to CI,APRI decreased total dry mass of sticky maize and water consumption significantly,thus increased water use efficiency of sticky maize on the basis of total dry mass.Compared to F1,total dry mass and dry seed yield of sticky maize were increased under the integrated management of water and fertilizer over whole growth stages at CI and APRI,thus WUEs and WUEu were also increased.Therefore,80% fertilization with integrated management of water and fertilizer is an efficient model of water and fertilizer supply for sticky maize under APRI in this study.