Sweet corn is one of the essential food crops in Indonesia because of its many benefits, such as, being a source of carbohydrates, oil, flour, animal feed, and others. Corn demand increases yearly, needing a large land area to meet its requirements. However, planting maize during the dry season or low rainfall faces more challenges. Therefore, using drip irrigation is a solution to ensure corn growth and sustained optimal production. The presented study aimed to determine the effects of drip irrigation on the production of two varieties of sweet corn (Zea mays saccharata Sturt) and began from February to May 2021 at the Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Teuku Umar, Meulaboh, West Aceh, Indonesia. The study used a randomized design (split-plot) each for two irrigation levels: without drip irrigation (T₀) and drip irrigation (T₁) in main plots on two sweet corn varieties, Bonanza and Paragon. The parameters observed were cob diameter with cornhusk (mm), cob diameter without cornhusk (mm), cob length with cornhusk (cm), cob length without cornhusk (cm), cob weight with cornhusk (g), and cob weight without cornhusk (g). Analysis of variance showed that the drip irrigation treatments had no significant effect on all the recorded parameters. However, the varieties had a highly relevant impact on the cob diameter and length and considerably influenced the cob weight. Then again, the sweet corn varieties showed nonsignificant differences for all other variables.

Keywords: Sweet corn (Zea mays saccharata Sturt), drip irrigation, production traits

Key findings: Drip irrigation is very effective and economical during the dry season, meeting the corn plants’ water requirements for their growth and development. Sweet corn cultivation with drip irrigation revealed enhanced cob diameter, length, and weight, and the sweet corn cultivars also had a highly significant effect on such traits.