Water Use and Grain Yield in Drought-Tolerant Corn in the Texas High Plains
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Drought is an important factor limiting corn (Zea mays L.) yields in the Texas High Plains, and adoption of droughttolerant (DT) hybrids could be a management tool under water shortage. We conducted a 3yr field study to investigate yield, evapotranspiration (ET), and water use efficiency (WUE) in DT hybrids. One conventional (33D49) and 4 DT hybrids (P1151HR, P1324HR, P1498HR, and P1564HR) were grown at three water regimes (I100, I75, and I50, referring to 100, 75, and 50% ET requirement) and three planting densities (PD) (5.9, 7.4, and 8.4 plants m2). Yield (13.56 Mg ha1) and ET (719 mm) were the greatest at I100 but WUE (2.1 kg m3) was the greatest at I75. Although DT hybrids did not always have greater yield and WUE than 33D49 at I100, hybrids P1151HR and P1564HR consistently had greater yield and WUE than 33D49 at I75 and I50. Compared to 33D49, P1151HR and P1564HR had 8.6 to 12.1% and 19.1% greater yield at I75 and I50, respectively. Correspondingly, WUE was 9.8 to 11.7% and 20.0% greater at I75 and I50, respectively. Greater PD resulted in greater yield and WUE at I100 and I75 but PD did not affect yield and WUE at I50. Yield and WUE in greater PD (8.4 plants m2) were 6.3 to 8.3% greater than those in smaller PD (5.9 plants m2). The results of this study demonstrated that proper selection of DT hybrids can increase corn yield and WUE under waterlimited conditions.
