Abstract:
Soil water is a major limiting factor to the production of maize particularly
under rainfed condition.
Field experiments were conducted in the early and late
season periods at the experimental
Engineering,
F.U.T. Akure.
farm of the Department
of Agricultural
The aim was to .quantify water use pattern, water
balance and yield of maize (Zea mays, L) under three tillage methods.
The
tillage treatments are heaping (as practiced by traditional farmers), tied-ridging
and untilled flat. The untilled flat and tied-ridge improved crop performance by
increasing
agronomic characters such as plant height leaf area biomass and
maize grain yield.
The relative water use (ET/Eo) reflected the influence of precipitation and
hence soils moisture availability on crop water use.
It is concluded
that crop water use (ET) differed
among the tillage
treatments with decreasing order in untilled flat, tied-ridging and heaping.
The result obtained in this study would be useful in water stress studies,
which
can
be
used
for
scheduling
irrigation
and
yield
prediction.
