Adaptive Agricultural Strategies for Facing Water Deficit in Sweet Maize Production: A Case Study of a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Region

Maize is a crucial global commodity, which is used not only for food, but also as an alternative crop in biogas production and as a major energy-supply ingredient in animal diets. However, climate change is jeopardizing current maize production due to its direct impact on weather instability and wat...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Lea Piscitelli, Milica Colovic, Adel Aly, Mohamad Hamze, Mladen Todorovic, Vito Cantore, Rossella Albrizio
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	climate change deficit irrigation rainfed cultivation maize development irrigation water productivity Southern Italy Hydraulic engineering TC1-978 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes TD201-500
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/14673fbcfb2b4b5ca25641a3f6e0e9c0
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:14673fbcfb2b4b5ca25641a3f6e0e9c0
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:14673fbcfb2b4b5ca25641a3f6e0e9c02021-11-25T19:16:23ZAdaptive Agricultural Strategies for Facing Water Deficit in Sweet Maize Production: A Case Study of a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Region10.3390/w132232852073-4441https://doaj.org/article/14673fbcfb2b4b5ca25641a3f6e0e9c02021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/22/3285https://doaj.org/toc/2073-4441Maize is a crucial global commodity, which is used not only for food, but also as an alternative crop in biogas production and as a major energy-supply ingredient in animal diets. However, climate change is jeopardizing current maize production due to its direct impact on weather instability and water availability or its indirect effects on regional climate suitability loss. Hence, new areas for sweet maize cultivation should be considered in the future. Therefore, this study focuses on the possibility of producing maize in a challenging environment in Southern Italy considering rainfed cultivation and two irrigation regimes (full and deficit). The experiment was conducted during two subsequent growing seasons under semi-arid Mediterranean climate conditions. The overall results indicated a significant difference in biomass and yield between irrigated and non-irrigated treatments, and between full and deficit irrigation. Sweet maize cultivated under deficit irrigation gained less biomass than under full irrigation and its development and fruit maturation were delayed. Under deficit irrigation, the plants gave lower yields and a higher percentage of the panicle weight consisted of kernels. Irrigation water productivity was higher for deficit than for full irrigated treatment. These findings indicate the feasibility of sweet maize production in semi-arid areas of Southern Italy using adaptive agricultural strategies including deficit irrigation and controlled water stress. Given the importance of maize production, understanding of maize growth and productivity in a challenging environment may support future agricultural programming and thereby contribute e to mitigation of the direct and indirect effects of climate change.Lea PiscitelliMilica ColovicAdel AlyMohamad HamzeMladen TodorovicVito CantoreRossella AlbrizioMDPI AGarticleclimate changedeficit irrigationrainfed cultivationmaize developmentirrigation water productivitySouthern ItalyHydraulic engineeringTC1-978Water supply for domestic and industrial purposesTD201-500ENWater, Vol 13, Iss 3285, p 3285 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	climate change deficit irrigation rainfed cultivation maize development irrigation water productivity Southern Italy Hydraulic engineering TC1-978 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes TD201-500
spellingShingle	climate change deficit irrigation rainfed cultivation maize development irrigation water productivity Southern Italy Hydraulic engineering TC1-978 Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes TD201-500 Lea Piscitelli Milica Colovic Adel Aly Mohamad Hamze Mladen Todorovic Vito Cantore Rossella Albrizio Adaptive Agricultural Strategies for Facing Water Deficit in Sweet Maize Production: A Case Study of a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Region
description	Maize is a crucial global commodity, which is used not only for food, but also as an alternative crop in biogas production and as a major energy-supply ingredient in animal diets. However, climate change is jeopardizing current maize production due to its direct impact on weather instability and water availability or its indirect effects on regional climate suitability loss. Hence, new areas for sweet maize cultivation should be considered in the future. Therefore, this study focuses on the possibility of producing maize in a challenging environment in Southern Italy considering rainfed cultivation and two irrigation regimes (full and deficit). The experiment was conducted during two subsequent growing seasons under semi-arid Mediterranean climate conditions. The overall results indicated a significant difference in biomass and yield between irrigated and non-irrigated treatments, and between full and deficit irrigation. Sweet maize cultivated under deficit irrigation gained less biomass than under full irrigation and its development and fruit maturation were delayed. Under deficit irrigation, the plants gave lower yields and a higher percentage of the panicle weight consisted of kernels. Irrigation water productivity was higher for deficit than for full irrigated treatment. These findings indicate the feasibility of sweet maize production in semi-arid areas of Southern Italy using adaptive agricultural strategies including deficit irrigation and controlled water stress. Given the importance of maize production, understanding of maize growth and productivity in a challenging environment may support future agricultural programming and thereby contribute e to mitigation of the direct and indirect effects of climate change.
format	article
author	Lea Piscitelli Milica Colovic Adel Aly Mohamad Hamze Mladen Todorovic Vito Cantore Rossella Albrizio
author_facet	Lea Piscitelli Milica Colovic Adel Aly Mohamad Hamze Mladen Todorovic Vito Cantore Rossella Albrizio
author_sort	Lea Piscitelli
title	Adaptive Agricultural Strategies for Facing Water Deficit in Sweet Maize Production: A Case Study of a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Region
title_short	Adaptive Agricultural Strategies for Facing Water Deficit in Sweet Maize Production: A Case Study of a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Region
title_full	Adaptive Agricultural Strategies for Facing Water Deficit in Sweet Maize Production: A Case Study of a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Region
title_fullStr	Adaptive Agricultural Strategies for Facing Water Deficit in Sweet Maize Production: A Case Study of a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Region
title_full_unstemmed	Adaptive Agricultural Strategies for Facing Water Deficit in Sweet Maize Production: A Case Study of a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Region
title_sort	adaptive agricultural strategies for facing water deficit in sweet maize production: a case study of a semi-arid mediterranean region
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/14673fbcfb2b4b5ca25641a3f6e0e9c0
work_keys_str_mv	AT leapiscitelli adaptiveagriculturalstrategiesforfacingwaterdeficitinsweetmaizeproductionacasestudyofasemiaridmediterraneanregion AT milicacolovic adaptiveagriculturalstrategiesforfacingwaterdeficitinsweetmaizeproductionacasestudyofasemiaridmediterraneanregion AT adelaly adaptiveagriculturalstrategiesforfacingwaterdeficitinsweetmaizeproductionacasestudyofasemiaridmediterraneanregion AT mohamadhamze adaptiveagriculturalstrategiesforfacingwaterdeficitinsweetmaizeproductionacasestudyofasemiaridmediterraneanregion AT mladentodorovic adaptiveagriculturalstrategiesforfacingwaterdeficitinsweetmaizeproductionacasestudyofasemiaridmediterraneanregion AT vitocantore adaptiveagriculturalstrategiesforfacingwaterdeficitinsweetmaizeproductionacasestudyofasemiaridmediterraneanregion AT rossellaalbrizio adaptiveagriculturalstrategiesforfacingwaterdeficitinsweetmaizeproductionacasestudyofasemiaridmediterraneanregion
_version_	1718410075334246400

Adaptive Agricultural Strategies for Facing Water Deficit in Sweet Maize Production: A Case Study of a Semi-Arid Mediterranean Region

Ejemplares similares