Water Use Efficiency of Sweet Corn

Florida, California, New York and Georgia are the leading fresh market producers, contributing about 60 percent of the total production. The Southeast is the most important sweet corn producer for the winter fresh market. Normally, sweet corn is planted over an extended planting window to allow for a continuous supply for the fresh market. However, this planting window exposes the crop to major stresses and weather risks. UGA biological and agricultural engineers conducted an experiment using a super sweet variety in 2006 at the Bledsoe Research Farm in Pike County. The experiment consisted of one planting date for rainfed conditions and three planting dates for irrigated conditions. The water use and water use efficiency of sweet corn were both markedly affected by the intra-seasonal weather variability and the soil water deficit. Differences on water use and water use efficiency were found between planting dates under irrigated conditions and between the irrigated and rainfed treatments. Further work should focus on the impact of the intra-seasonal weather variability and soil moisture conditions during different crop stages to determine critical periods that affect yield.