Abstract

Global water shortage is a major problem that needs for efficient irrigation management to provide food security and sustainable agriculture. n experiment was carried out in the fall of 2023 in Al-Musayyib, Babylon Governorate, Iraq. The aim of this work was to investigate how soil texture and irrigation depletion levels (I1 = 75% and I2 = 50%) affected the performance of the maize crop. The soil textures at the experimental site are sandy, loamy, sandy loam, and clay loam. Sandy loam soils (T1) had the greatest total excess water depth (I1) at 75% water depletion (I1), followed by sandy soils (T2) at 1425 mm.season-1. While sandy loam soils (T1) needed 1279 mm.season-1 at 50% water depletion (I2), sandy soils (T2) needed 1463 mm.season-1. These statistics show how a growing water scarcity calls for more irrigation. Besides, sandy and sandy loam soils need less water than clay or sandy clay soils. For the same soil type, I1 needed less watering than I2, and loamy sands showed the most drop in cob length. Rich moisture retention indicated by the least amount of watering needed for maize in sandy loam soils, while sandy soils required the highest. The length of maize cobs was affected by soil type and irrigation level. Silt loam soil developed longer cobs, while 75% depletion level had shorter corn cobs. Watering schemes have to take soil quality and water depletion into account in order to achieve optimal water utilization and production of crops. Improved irrigation management can increase crop yields while consuming less water.