Seasonal water requirements of maize in the region of Vojvodina

Abstract

Global climate changes, which are characterized by an increase in temperature, reduction of precipitation, especially during the summer months, significantly affect the overall production of spring sowing crops. Maize is the predominant crop in Serbia. It is grown in about 1 million hectares with average yield about 7,9 t/ha. Precisely for that reason, in this paper, the analysis of water deficit on the maize fields in the region of Vojvodina was performed. The total used agricultural land of the surveyed area is about 1,574,365.71 ha, while the maize grown area occupies about 551,028 ha (35%). A series of meteorological data from the previous 20 years (2000 - 2019) from 7 meteorological stations of the Administrative Districts from the regions covered by the survey were used for the analysis. Evapotranspiration, crop evapotranspiration (maize), effective rainfall and water deficit were calculated using FAO-56 methodology. The amount of water consumed during the evapotranspiration process in the vegetation period averaging about 625.07 mm (from 597.4 mm in the North Bačka District to 646.8 mm in the West Bačka District). Maize has the greatest water requirement during the tasseling and silking phases, in July, when the largest water deficit is observed, which averages 152.51 mm (from 143.6 mm in the South Banat District to 159.2 mm in the Srem District). The seasonal water deficit averages 347.24 mm (from 310.8 mm in the area of South Bačka District to 369 mm in the area of West Bačka District). As the availability of water is a key factor for high and stable maize yields, this research aimed to examine the water requirements in the area where the maize represents more than half of the total production.