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Abstract A field experiment was conducted during the two seasons 2009 and 2010 involved growing maize (Zea mayze L., c.v- SC 10) as summer at Sakha Agricultural Research Station, Kafr EL-Sheikh Governorate. Each treatment was shaped in a strip, 6 meter width (one gated pipe) and 70 m long. Each gated pipe represents one treatment. Statistical design of the experiment was randomized complete block design (RCBD) in four replications. Irrigation treatments were as follows: 1. Treatment A: Control, irrigation till the end of the strip as the local farmers irrigating their fields. 2. Treatment B: Cut-off, irrigation till the wetting front reached about 85% from the strip length i.e. till nearly 60 meter. 3. Treatment C: Fixed alternative furrow irrigation (FAFI), meant during the growing season, irrigating one furrow and kept the adjacent one without watering. 4. Treatment D: Exchange alternative furrow irrigation (EAFI), meant during the growing season, the irrigated furrow will be un-irrigated in the next watering and vise versa at the following irrigations. 5. Treatment E: Irrigation according to Ibrahim Equation, 1981. 6. Treatment F: Irrigation according to FAO, Penman-Monteith Equation, (Allen et al., 1998). The main target of the present study is: “More crops per DROP or increasing yield per less”. Specific goals were; increasing water saving, optimizing water productivity using gated pipes as improved surface furrow irrigation.. Moreover, impacts of climate change on maize productivity and its water needs were also analyzed. The main results indicated that: 1. The conventional or traditional irrigation as the local farmers irrigating their fields in the area received the highest amount of irrigation water (I.W, m3fed-1.) exceeding all other treatments. 2. The highest value of Water productivity 1.3 kg m-3 applied irrigation water was resulted from implementation of either cut-off or alternate furrow irrigation technique. 3. Maize grain yield (ton fed-1 in the first season 2009, no significant difference was obtained among different treatments. The values are 3.145, 3.272, 2.985, 3.217, 3.403 and 2.786 ton fed-1. The stated values are for treatments; A, B, C, D, E and F. While for the second season 2010, in spite of no significant difference between treatments, the corresponding values are; 3.440. 3.626, 3.551, 3.575, 3.783 and 2.893 ton fed-1. 4. Regarding climate change impacts: a. Crop yield will be decreased by about 33%. b. Crop water consumptive use (CU), will be increased by 4and 9% as a result of the expected increasing in air temperature by 1.5 and 3.5ºC, respectively. c. The mitigation studies strengthen on the breeding for heat, salinity and drought tolerant crop varieties. d. Moreover, each DROP of water should be highly conserved through effective management of soil, water and crop. |