Abstract
Abstract. A large yield gap exists in rain-fed maize (Zea mays L.) production in semi-arid regions, mainly caused by frequent droughts halfway through the crop-growing period due to uneven distribution of rainfall. It is questionable whether irrigation systems are economically required in such a region since the total amount of rainfall does generally meet crop requirements. This study aimed to quantitatively determine the effects of water stress from jointing to grain filling on root and shoot growth and the consequences for maize grain yield, above- and below-ground dry matter, water uptake (WU) and water use efficiency (WUE). Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress. Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years, while severe stress reduced yield by 56 %. Both water stress levels decreased root biomass slightly but shoot biomass substantially. Mild water stress decreased root length but increased root diameter, resulting in no effect on root surface area. Due to the morphological plasticity in root growth and the increase in root ∕ shoot ratio, WU under water stress was decreased, and overall WUE for both above-ground dry matter and grain yield increased. Our results demonstrate that an irrigation system might be not economically and ecologically necessary because the frequently occurring mild water stress did not reduce crop yield much. The study helps us to understand crop responses to water stress during a critical water-sensitive period (middle of the crop-growing season) and to mitigate drought risk in dry-land agriculture.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Mild water stress did not affect maize yield over 2 years.
- Treatment
- mild water stresse1
- Outcome
- yielde1
- Direction
- not affectede1
- Qualifier
- over 2 yearse1
- Comparator
- noe3
- Setting
- Pot experimentse3
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e3“Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress”
Claim · model-written summary
Severe water stress reduced maize yield by 56 %.
- Treatment
- severe stresse2
- Outcome
- yielde2
- Direction
- reducede2
- Value
- 56 %e2
- Comparator
- noe3
- Setting
- Pot experimentse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e2“severe stress reduced yield by 56 %”
e3“Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress”
Claim · model-written summary
Water stress at both levels decreased maize root biomass slightly.
- Treatment
- water stresse4
- Outcome
- root biomasse4
- Direction
- decreasede4
- Qualifier
- slightlye4
- Comparator
- noe3
- Setting
- Pot experimentse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e3“Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress”
e4“Both water stress levels decreased root biomass slightly but shoot biomass substantially”
Claim · model-written summary
Water stress at both levels decreased maize shoot biomass substantially.
- Treatment
- water stresse4
- Outcome
- shoot biomasse4
- Direction
- decreasede4
- Qualifier
- substantiallye4
- Comparator
- noe3
- Setting
- Pot experimentse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e3“Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress”
e4“Both water stress levels decreased root biomass slightly but shoot biomass substantially”
Claim · model-written summary
Mild water stress decreased maize root length.
- Treatment
- Mild water stresse5
- Outcome
- root lengthe5
- Direction
- decreasede5
- Comparator
- noe3
- Setting
- Pot experimentse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e3“Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress”
e5“Mild water stress decreased root length but increased root diameter, resulting in no effect on root surface area”
Claim · model-written summary
Mild water stress increased maize root diameter.
- Treatment
- Mild water stresse5
- Outcome
- root diametere5
- Direction
- increasede5
- Comparator
- noe3
- Setting
- Pot experimentse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e3“Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress”
e5“Mild water stress decreased root length but increased root diameter, resulting in no effect on root surface area”
Claim · model-written summary
Mild water stress had no effect on maize root surface area.
- Treatment
- Mild water stresse5
- Outcome
- root surface areae5
- Direction
- no effecte5
- Comparator
- noe3
- Setting
- Pot experimentse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e3“Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress”
e5“Mild water stress decreased root length but increased root diameter, resulting in no effect on root surface area”
Claim · model-written summary
Water stress increased the root to shoot ratio of maize.
- Treatment
- water stresse6
- Outcome
- root ∕ shoot ratioe6
- Direction
- increasee6
- Comparator
- noe3
- Setting
- Pot experimentse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e3“Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress”
e6“Due to the morphological plasticity in root growth and the increase in root ∕ shoot ratio, WU under water stress was decreased”
Claim · model-written summary
Water stress decreased water uptake (WU) in maize.
- Treatment
- water stresse6
- Outcome
- WUe6
- Direction
- decreasede6
- Qualifier
- Due to the morphological plasticity in root growth and the increase in root ∕ shoot ratioe6
- Comparator
- noe3
- Setting
- Pot experimentse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e3“Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress”
e6“Due to the morphological plasticity in root growth and the increase in root ∕ shoot ratio, WU under water stress was decreased”
Claim · model-written summary
Water stress increased water use efficiency for both above-ground dry matter and grain yield in maize.
- Treatment
- water stresse6
- Outcome
- WUE for both above-ground dry matter and grain yielde7
- Direction
- increasede7
- Comparator
- noe3
- Setting
- Pot experimentse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e3“Pot experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with a mobile rain shelter to achieve conditions of no, mild or severe water stress”
e6“Due to the morphological plasticity in root growth and the increase in root ∕ shoot ratio, WU under water stress was decreased”
e7“overall WUE for both above-ground dry matter and grain yield increased”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend that an irrigation system may not be economically and ecologically necessary for maize in this region.
- Outcome
- irrigation systeme0
- Qualifier
- because the frequently occurring mild water stress did not reduce crop yield muche0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e1“Maize yield was not affected by mild water stress over 2 years”
e0“Our results demonstrate that an irrigation system might be not economically and ecologically necessary because the frequently occurring mild water stress did not reduce crop yield much”
The same questions in other papers
drought · physiology: water · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
38 papers in the same direction as this paper · 116 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- negative
151 papers more in this group
See all 155 papers →drought · yield · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
299 papers in the same direction as this paper · 53 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- positive
349 papers more in this group
See all 353 papers →drought · growth · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
307 papers in the same direction as this paper · 77 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- positive
381 papers more in this group
See all 385 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.