Characteristic of soil moisture utilisation with different water-sensitive cultivars of summer maize in the North China Plain

Abstract

Soil moisture is the most crucial factor influencing crop growth. However, the shortage of soil water storage causes the reduction of yield, referred to as crop water stress (Omondi et al. 2021). Rainwater is the primary source of soil moisture, especially under rainfed agricultures (Jaramillo et al. 2020), but the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as prolonged droughts and heavy rainfall, are expected to increase (Chen et al. 2020, Tang et al. 2021, which increase water loss through evaporation and runoff. Insufficient precipitation during critical growth stages is not adequate for crop water demands and biomass production (Huang et al. 2021); conversely, too much rainwater during the rainy season intensifies the problems of crop lodging and soil erosion (Routschek et al. 2014) and further jeopardised agricultural output (Malhi et al. 2021). Therefore, effective field crop management for cli-