Impact of maize hybrid selection on water productivity under deficit irrigation in semiarid western Nebraska

The future economic and agricultural sustainability of semiarid western Nebraska will largely depend on more efficient utilization the declining groundwater resources. scope this research was to evaluate maize hybrid yield, water productivity (WP; i.e. grain yield produced per unit consumed), irrigation (IWP; increase in applied) across a range climatic conditions (i.e. drought, normal, wet) treatments. Total 13 hybrids were evaluated under full (FI), deficit (DI, receiving ~50% less than FI), dryland (DRY; rainfall only) at University Nebraska-Lincoln Brule Water Laboratory near Brule, Nebraska, 2011 2012 Bayer’s Gothenburg Utilization Learning Center Gothenburg, 2010 four site-years). Compared FI, DI caused reduction as much 33% dry, 11% 2% wet year, resulting consequently 22–47% improvement IWP. Depending site-year level, difference up 7.2 t ha-1, 3.6 kg m-3, 5.9 m-3 observed WP, IWP, respectively, consequence selection, with few top-performing yielding similarly FI normal and/or year. This study highlights impact selection have crop (WP) IWP well provides insight into strategies that can maintain profitability limited environments.