Due to water shortages and the increasing need for food in recent years, the optimization of\nwater consumption parameters, fertilizers, and food production are essential and a priority. The aim\nof this study is to investigate the effect of partial root-zone irrigation (PRI) methods on corn plant\ncharacteristics. The study also tried to measure the water use efficiency (WUE) of corn in pot\ncultivation and provide the best method of management in the fields of irrigation and fertigation.\nFor this purpose, three irrigation methods, including alternate partial root-zone irrigation (APRI),\nfixed partial root-zone irrigation (FPRI), and conventional irrigation (CI) were studied in pots,\nand completely randomized blocks with eight replications were carried out. Each pot was evenly\nseparated with plastic sheets into two sub-parts of equal volume, between which no water exchange\noccurred. The water content of the field capacity was calculated by the weighting method. The water\nrequirement was provided daily, equal to 95% of the field capacity water content. Parameters\nincluding shoot and root dry weight, nitrate (N) uptake, the remaining nitrate in the soil, leaf area\nindex, and WUE during the growing season were measured and compared. According to the results,\nthe amount of saved water using the FPRI and APRI methods compared to the CI method were 28%\nand 32%, respectively. The highest and lowest WUE were observed as equal to 4.88 and 3.82 g/L\nusing the APRI and CI methods, respectively, among which the CI method had the highest yield\naccording to the amount of utilized water. Given the statistical examinations, there was no significant\ndifference in the nitrate level of plants between CI and APRI, and the lowest uptake was observed in\nFPRI. Finally, considering indicators of yield production and WUE simultaneously, the APRI method\nwas selected as the best method of management.
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