Water use efficiency of some maize cultivars in field conditions and assesment of related physiological parameters

This study is conducted at experimental cites in Ege University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Field Crops in 2014. Two different irrigation treatments (well irrigated and deficit irrigated) and 10 different hybrid maize cultivars were performed on this experiment. Effects of different irrigation treatments to total grain yield, total dry weight, plant height, thousand grain weight, transpiration and evaporation, transpiration based water use efficiency (WUETr) and irrigation based water use efficiency (WUEIr), canopy temperature depression (CTD), SPAD values and proline contents were evaluated. Grain yield slightly decreased under deficit irrigation conditions while significant decrease is recorded in SPAD values. There was no remarkable changes in CTD and proline accumulation. Cv. XTH8406 has higher transpiration based WUETr and irrigation based WUEIr values than other cultivars. We may suggested that increase in chlorophyll content as a different structural adaptation processes with increase in water supply is more important comparison to transpiration based water relation of plants. Higher WUE and SPAD values of cv. XTH8406 could be attributed such adaptation ability of maize plants.