Irrigation experiments related to drought stress are important from several points of view. The first of these is to improve the quality and quantity of the yield, as it is already known, drought stress negatively affects the growth and development of plants, which can lead to a reduced average yield and a lower quality crop. Irrigation trials allow us to determine how to replace missing moisture to maximize yield and improve crop quality. Optimizing water management is also of great importance, as efficient water management is critical for plant survival and maximizing yield. The exploration of genetic differences is also an important aspect, since different plant varieties or hybrids may react differently to drought stress. Irrigation trials help identify stress-tolerant cultivars or hybrids that are better adapted to drought conditions. During our research, we tested five different maize hybrids in the year of 2023. The location was the experimental farm of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Irrigation and Land Improvement in Szarvas. The experiment was set up under a foil tent, in order to completely exclude natural precipitation, resulting in an even and precise water dose for all hybrids during the research. The experiment was created with three repetition with three different water dose, during the growing season we were able to monitor the air temperature of the experimental area, the leaf area (LAI) of the different hybrids, the relative chlorophyll content (SPAD) value and the plant height, while the total biomass was determined during the harvest.

drought stress, irrigation, maize

agronomy

Presentation: poster