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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp5 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Moisture stress induced changes in growth, physiology and productivity of maize: An experimental evaluation

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.16172
Submitted
18 June 2026
Published
16-09-2026

Abstract

Water deficit is a major constraint for maize production, demanding irrigation approaches that increase water use efficiency while reducing yield losses. The present study evaluated the effect of moisture stress induced at different growth stages on the growth, physiological functions, yield characteristics and productivity of maize. The experiment consisted of 10 irrigation treatments, involving a well-watered control (T1- 0.75 irrigation water/cumulative pan evaporation (IW/CPE) throughout the crop period) and moisture stress imposed at vegetative, reproductive and maturity stages with 0.375 IW/CPE ratio. Among the moisture stress treatments, moderate stress 2 (T7) (0.75 IW/CPE up to 85 DAS and 0.375 IW/CPE from 85 days after sowing (DAS) to harvest) consistently outperformed the other stress treatments and remained statistically comparable with the well-watered control (T1) with higher plant height (190.93 and 192.43 cm), leaf area index (LAI) (5.60 and 5.80), total chlorophyll content (1.64 and 1.58 mg g-¹ FW) and lower proline content (0.61 and 0.69 mg g-¹ FW)  and this improved growth and physiological performance was reflected in superior cob length, grain number and cob weight, which ultimately resulted in higher grain yields of 7794 and 7283 kg ha-¹ during summer 2025 and 2026, respectively. However, severe moisture stress imposed during critical growth stages resulted in a substantial reduction in growth, physiological functions and yield. The findings revealed that a moderate stress strategy induced in the mid-growth stage can sustain maize productivity while reducing irrigation demand, making it a promising approach for improving water use efficiency and enhancing climate resilience in maize production.

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