Fertirriego nitrogenado y su efecto en el rendimiento de maíz

Corn plays a key role in Uruguay’s production systems, mainly as an input for animal feed. Its yield largely depends on the availability of water and nutrients, especially nitrogen. In systems with supplemental irrigation, the management of nitrogen fertilization through fertigation can improve nutrient use efficiency by synchronizing its availability with crop demand. However, the effect of splitting nitrogen applications on corn yield shows variable results depending on environmental and management conditions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different nitrogen rates and levels of application splitting through fertigation on yield components and grain yield of corn under supplemental irrigation conditions. The experiment was conducted during the 2023/2024 growing season at the “Estación Experimental Mario A. Cassinoni” (EEMAC) of the Facultad de Agronomía, located in Paysandú, Uruguay. The trial was established under irrigated conditions, except for the control treatment. Different nitrogen rates and application splitting schemes were evaluated throughout the crop cycle. Measurements included dry matter accumulation, grain yield, and numerical components and subcomponents of yield. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using Info Stat software. The results showed that increasing nitrogen rates had a positive effect on crop growth and grain yield, confirming that greater nutrient availability promotes biomass formation and yield components. In particular, higher dry matter production and improvements in the number of grains per ear and grain weight were observed as the applied rate increased. In contrast, increasing the number of nitrogen application splits did not generate consistent increases in yield within each evaluated rate. In some cases, especially at high nitrogen rates, greater splitting even led to yield reductions, possibly associated with nutrient losses or lower efficiency in nutrient use by the crop. The results indicate that corn yield under irrigation primarily responds to the applied nitrogen rate, while increasing the number of application splits does not necessarily improve productivity.