In order to deal with climate change, improve the ability to resist disasters crop, mitigate the impact of disasters on crop growth, the author analyzed the effect of soil moisture’s diversification from 0-50 cm to the maize yield with the observational data from Xifeng agricultural meteorological experiment station on Dongzhi highland at loess plateau. The results showed that: this region’s soil water storage was reducing while climate was becoming warmer and drier year by year. There’s a phased changing which from stable-phase to rapid-reduce-phase and to rise-phase in the whole growth period of maize. Soil moisture had a mutation in 2000, it reduced obviously since 2000. From jointing-stage to milky-stage in the growth period of maize, water consumption was the most, and the water consumption before mutation happened was 0.1 mm more than it after mutation happened. The efficiency of water using in the growth period of maize was increasing year by year, and it’s unobvious. The efficiency of water using after mutation happened (2000-2012) had a 0.3 mm/kg more increasing than it before mutation happened (1990-1999). Through the analysis about different climate-year-model’s water use efficiency, it was found that the water use efficiency and yield was the highest in normal year but the lowest in wet year.
The Effect of Variation of Cornfield’s Soil Moisture on Maize Yield in Rainfed Region and the Water Use Efficiency. Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin. 2013, 29(33): 242-247 https://doi.org/10.11924/j.issn.1000-6850.2013-0460