Optimizing preplant irrigation for maize under limited water in the High Plains

Abstract

Due to inadequate irrigation capacity, some farmers in the United States High Plains apply preplant irrigation to buffer the crop between irrigation events during the cropping season. The purpose of the study was to determine preplant irrigation amount and irrigation capacity combinations that optimize yield, water productivity, and precipitation use efficiency (PUE) and minimize soil water evaporation losses prior to planting. The CERES-Maize model embedded in the RZWQM2 model in combination with long-term climatic data from 1986 to 2014 for southwest Kansas were used for this research.