For the rational use of water resources, the use of drip irrigation system for corn (Zea mays L.) crop in Southeast Kazakhstan is a chief recommendation. The relevant research aimed to study the influence of soil tillage methods and drip irrigation systems on corn grain yield, carried out in 2019–2021 at the Kazakh Research Institute of Agriculture and Plant Growing, Almalybak, Kazakhstan. During the research, the soil tillage provided a greater supply of plant residues in the cultivated layer due to better soil crumbling. With traditional and no-tillage, a slight decrease contributed to soil density, and agronomically valuable aggregates amounted to 62%–73%, indicating an excellent aggregate state of the soil. The application of ammonium nitrate and water-soluble mineral fertilizer through fertigation helps maximize the content of hydrolyzed nitrogen (61–68 mg/kg), mobile phosphorus (49–57 mg/kg), and exchangeable potassium (386–394 mg/kg). It proved aside with moldboard plowing, it is also effective with zero tillage. With drip irrigation, the additional use of mineral fertilizers promotes to increase the corn grain yield from 0.87 to 2.85 t/ha. However, the formation of corn grain yield largely depended on the use of mineral fertilizers, and the share of the contribution was mainly reliant on the year of research, ranging from 52.2% to 56.9%.
Corn (Z. mays L.), hybrids, soil tillage, drip irrigation, fertilizers, soil fertility, yield traits, productivity
For the rational use of water resources, using the drip irrigation system in corn (Z. mays L.) crop is a chief recommendation. The use of mineral and complex water-soluble fertilizers helps to improve corn productivity.