University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Water Resources Center
Abstract
Irrigation represents the largest segment of consumptive water use in the U.S. Consequently, improvements in the efficiency of irrigation can have an important effect on the amount of water available for other uses. This research was initiated to determine the physiological limitations to crop yield during drought. The identification of these parameters may provide a way of estimating plant need for irrigation and avoiding unnecessary applications of water. Maize was grown to maturity, and photosynthesis and translocation of photosynthates were studied when drought occurred during grain development. Both carbon-14 labeling of the photosynthetic products and dry weight determinations indicated that net photosynthesis was substantially reduced whereas translocation was relatively rapid during drought. Furthermore, grain production occurred in proportion to the cumulative photosynthesis for the season. It was concluded that photosynthesis was more limiting than translocation to grain fill under dry conditions and that photosynthetic behavior could be used to reflect the need of maize crops for water.U.S. Geological SurveyU.S. Department of the InteriorOpe
