Impact of Water Scarcity on Maize Productivity in Egyptian Conditions for Climate Change Adaptation | ||
| Egyptian Journal of Agronomy | ||
| Volume 47, Issue 4, December 2025, Pages 1289-1300 PDF (589.31 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/agro.2025.373552.1665 | ||
| Authors | ||
| ِAhmed Sabry Hegab1; Mohamed Magdy Abdel Wahab2; Essam Hammad3; Yosri Nasr Ahmed4; Alaa Abdel Raouf Mohamed Khalil5; Beelal Ali Ali* 6 | ||
| 1Central Laboratory of Agricultural Climate, Agricultural Research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamatio | ||
| 2Faculty of Science, Cairo University. | ||
| 3Climate Change Information Center, Agricultural Research Center | ||
| 4Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Egypt. | ||
| 5National center for meteorology, Saudi Arabia | ||
| 6Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Water scarcity is one of the detrimental consequences of climate change reflected in agricultural productivity. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the profitability of maize production for smallholder farmers in Egypt, considering the influence of climate change on limited water resources and the requirements of suitable irrigation methods that could help solve this critical issue. Therefore, two field experiments were conducted at Wadi El Natrun-El-Beheira Governorate during the summer seasons of 2022 and 2023. This work aimed to investigate the effects of three irrigation levels (60%, 80%, and 100%) and two irrigation systems (surface drip irrigation and subsurface drip irrigation) on growth, yield, and the economic assessments of production costs and returns of maize (Zea mays L.) hybrid planted on sandy soil. Results indicated that the subsurface drip irrigation system performs better than the surface drip irrigation. The economic assessments revealed that subsurface drip irrigation yielded a higher average yield, meeting 100% of irrigation requirements (3.74 t fed-1). Modernizing the subsurface drip irrigation system for maize crop is economically feasible, with a benefit-cost ratio of 2.58, indicating significant returns by reducing production costs and increasing revenues. As a result, the study recommends scaling up this system to all agricultural lands for maize crops because it has economic benefits and saves irrigation water. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Maize (Zea mays L.); water use efficiency; surface drip irrigation; subsurface drip irrigation; and climate change | ||
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