Riego por gravedad tecnificado en híbridos de maíz para Valles Altos

The technical design of gravity irrigation represents an opportunity for water savings and is an optionin conditions of scarcity to improve the production of the corn crop. This work aimed to assess theeffect of three moisture management conditions on the agronomic variables of white corn hybridsfor the High Valleys of central Mexico. The experimental design consisted of a factorial arrangementof 10 hybrids (G1-G10) under three moisture (M) conditions, traditional irrigation (M1), technifiedirrigation (M2), and rainfed conditions (M3) in a design of three randomized complete blocks,established at the Cuautitlán Faculty of Higher Studies of the National Autonomous University ofMexico in Cuautitlán Izcalli, state of Mexico. The overall mean grain yield was 8.28 t ha-1 with awater utility of 1.5 kg m-3; it was 7.9 t ha-1 and 1.2 kg m-3 under traditional irrigation, 8.6 t ha-1and 1.4 kg m-3 under technified irrigation, and 8.26 t ha-1 and 1.8 kg m-3 under rainfed conditions,respectively. The CUXI PUMA hybrid resulted with the highest productivity (9.95 t ha-1 and 1.7 kgm-3). The highest yield was obtained under technified irrigation; however, under rainfed irrigation,hybrids showed greater water utility. Under conditions of water restriction, it is advisable to producecorn under rainfed conditions because irrigation did not significantly increase yield, this would beexpected in soil and climatic conditions similar to those of this experiment