CORN

IRRIGATION
CALENDAR
IRRIGATION
■■ Planting must be in wet soil to ensure germination.
■■ Always start the growing season with a wet soil profile that is 100cm deep. If the soil profile is not wet during

planting time, apply 50-80mm of water immediately, until you reach the desired moisture content.
■■ Irrigation quantities change according to the expected ET (evapotranspiration) and weekly KC (crop factor).

■■ Recommendations are based on no rain.

■■ An effective rain event is one with over 10mm.

■■ Rain efficiency should be calculated at an 80% rate.

■■ Use a simple rain gauge to identify the exact amount of rainfall in the plot. Don’t guess!

■■ For monitoring the level of humidity in the soil, use tensiometers, other sensors or soil drill, to see if the soil profile

is properly wet.
■■ The recommenddetions are relevant for grain and silage corn.

■■ Ask your Netafim support agronomist for adjustments in irrigating scheduling.

Recommendations in hours/shift are based on the following drip system configuration:

Lateral spacing 1.52m

Dripper spacing
Dripper flow rate
Total application rate
This irrigation schedule is a decision-support tool based on
0.6m estimations and assumptions, and should serve only as a
general guideline. Netafim makes no warranties or representations
1l/h whatsoever, whether expressed or implied, regarding the accuracy
and/or completeness of the information. The use of this information is
1.1mm/h at the users own responsibility and risk.
PRE-IRRIGATION TRIGGER VALUES FOR TENSIOMETER (CENTIBAR)

Medium-heavy soils
Depth Planting-V1 V1-V5 V5-V10 V10-R3 R4-R5
25cm 20-30 40-60 30-40 20-30 30-40
50cm 20-30 20-30 30-40 40-50 >50
75cm 5-(15) 5-(15) 20-30 50-60 >60

Light soils
Depth Planting-V1 V1-V5 V5-V10 V10-R3 R4-R5
25cm 10 25-35 20-30 10-20 20-30
50cm 10 10-20 15-25 20-30 >40
75cm 0-10 0-10 5-(10) 30-40 >50

*On R4-R5 you can let the bottom layers get dry and reach high tension values
Netafim suggests using monitoring tools for better irrigation management. If you use tensiometers to monitor the soil moisture
condition, follow the table values (centibar) in order to reach the right moisture condition for corn cultivation. The table presents the
values for triggering irrigation. If the actual values are greater than the recommended values, then the soil will be too dry for optimal
corn cultivation.
FERTILIZER APPLICATION

■■ Fertilizing guidelines are based on the assumption that the P and K levels in the
soil are low-to-medium.
■■ The recommended amount of base fertilizer (see week 1) can be reduced accord-

ing to the soil analysis results.

■■ One fertigation event per week.

■■ Fertigation should be started only after the system is full and pressurized, and

should be stopped 1 hour before irrigation is stopped.

■■ All P and K recommendations in this document refer to P O and K O.
2 5 2
■■ In case of rain, skip irrigation but do not skip fertigation. Fertigate with a high

concentration of fertilizer and a small water volume.

■■ DAP (18-46-0) has low solubility, and is suitable only for base dressing.

Be sure that your fertilizer is soluble and good for fertigation.

Ask your local dealer for the right fertilizer.
This is only a recommendation based on Netafim’s agronomic experience. Netafim is not responsible for actual results.
 % nutrients in commercial Nutrient amount in 10kg of Fertilizer dosage for
dry product fertilizer dose achieving 10kg of nutrients
Fertilizer Type
N P2O5 K2O N (kg) P2O5 (kg) K2O (kg) N P2O5 K2O

15-15-15
15% 15% 15% 1.5 1.5 1.5 67 67 67

20-20-20
20% 20% 20% 2 2 2 50 50 50

Monoammonium
11% 52% 0% 1.1 5.2 0 91 2 0
Phosphate (MAP)
18-46-0 (DAP)
18% 46% 0% 1.8 4.6 0 56 22 0

46% Urea
46% 0% 0% 4.6 0 0 22 0 0

35% Ammonium Nitrate

35% 0% 0% 3.5 0 0 29 0 0

21% Ammonium Sulphate

21% 0% 0% 2.1 0 0 48 0 0

Potassium Nitrate (KNO3)

13% 0% 46% 1.3 0 4.6 77 0 22

Potassium Chloride (KCL)

0% 0% 60% 0 0 6 0 0 17

Potassium Sulphate
0% 0% 51% 0 0 5.1 0 0 20

Phosphoric Acid
0% 52% 0% 0 5.2 0 0 20 0
STAGES SCHEDULLE

Intervals - days Minimum quantity

Stage Days after planting Kc ET (mm/d) between irrigation per irrigation- mm/ N
events event

VE-V3 0-25 0.5 5.5 5-7 20 80kg/ha

V4-V7 25-40 0.6-0.8 6 3-4 10 40kg/ha

V8-V12 40-60 1 6 2-3 10 60kg/ha

V12-R2 60-100 1.2 6 1-2 10 (6-SDI) 120kg/ha

R3-R5 100-120 0.6-1 5 3-4 10

R6 120-140

Even if the calculated

amount doesn't reach
it, apply the minimum
Kc (crop factor) changes dose. This should ensure
Based on the common Can change according to
according to the crop The ET is according to the that the water reaches One fertigation event per
Remarks variety and the historical the soil type.
stage and according to local historical climate. the root zone. It’s week.
climate condition.
the plant demand. always recommended to
check the soil moisture
manually (soil drill) or by
locating tensiometers.
 P2O5 K2O remarks

Irrigation recommendation relevant mainly for SDI systems.

60kg/ha 100kg/ha
If temperatures exceed 30ºC for more than 3 days apply 30mm of irrigation.

V4 - Optimal time for dripperlines installation for on-surface systems and first irrigation event.
20kg/ha 30kg/ha It is recommended to apply 30-50mm in order to refill the soil profile, and to ensure that the wet front reaches the root zone.
Afterward, regular irrigation and fertigation application begins.

Rapid vegetative growth stage until tasseling.

20kg/ha 40kg/ha Irrigation quantity and frequency increase due to higher plant demand, and evaporation also increased due to higher temperatures
and evaporation.

The next stages are the most sensitive stages for water deficit.
Be aware that water shortages can lead to a severe yield lost.
20kg/ha 100kg/ha
It is recommended to check the soil moisture by drill in order to ensure that you reach field capacity so that there is no stress at all.
Stop fertigation on R1.

Irrigation quantities are reduced from the time the drying process begins.
No need for additional fertigation.
R4-R5- harvest time for silage.

When the black layer accrue and drying process are almost complete.
There is no need to irrigation, since the plant has reached maturity. Let in dry under reaching the requested harvest moisture.

One event per two One event per two

weeks. weeks.
 FIRST MONTH
DATE:
___ / ___

WEEK 1 DAYS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

PLANTING- mm Plant in wet soil. N P2O5 K2O
VE Water Base fertilizer can change
hour/shift according to soil analysis. 80 60 100

the total amount after

Notes planting base dressing and starter
application
WEEK 2 DAYS 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha
VE-V1 mm Emergence can be delayed due N P2O5 K2O
Water to low temperatures.
hour/shift

Notes

WEEK 3 DAYS 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

V2-V3 20mm Implement the recommended N P2O5 K2O
mm
Water quantity only if you have a
18h subsurface drip irrigation (SDI)
hour/shift
system, or if there was no
significant rain event (<20mm)
from planting till now.
Notes

WEEK 4 DAYS 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

V3-V4 20mm 10mm Prepare for routine irrigation N P2O5 K2O
mm
Water schedule. Ensure that thr
hour/shift 18h 9h system is ready for higher
20
frequency operations and the
soil profile is wet.
Notes
 SECOND MONTH
DATE:
___ / ___

WEEK 5 DAYS 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

V5-V6 mm 20mm 14mm N P2O5 K2O
Water
hour/shift 18h 13h 20 20 20

Notes

WEEK 6 DAYS 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

V6-V8 mm 18mm 10mm 10mm Rapid vegetative growth stage N P2O5 K2O
Water until tasseling. Notice
hour/shift 16h 9h 9h increasing amounts of water. 20 20

Notes

WEEK 7 DAYS 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

V8-V11 15mm 10mm 10mm Increase irrigation frequency. N P2O5 K2O
mm
Water Quantity is also increased due
hour/shift 14h 9h 9h to higher temperatures and 30 20 30
evaporation.
Notes

WEEK 8 DAYS 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

V11-V14 15mm 12mm 12mm Keep soil surface humid in N P2O5 K2O
mm
Water order to ensure brace root
hour/shift 14h 11h 11h development. 40 30

Notes
 THIRD MONTH
DATE:
___ / ___

WEEK 9 DAYS 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

V15-VN mm 18mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm Final vegetative stages shortly N P2O5 K2O
Water before the reproductive stages.
hour/shift 16h 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h Make sure the soil profile 40 20 40
is wet.
Notes

WEEK 10 DAYS 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

VT mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm The next 3 weeks are the most N P2O5 K2O
Water sensitive stage for water
hour/shift 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h deficit. Be aware that water 30 20
shortages can lead to a severe
yield lost.
Notes

WEEK 11 DAYS 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

R1 mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm High sensitivity to water deficit. N P2O5 K2O
Water
hour/shift 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h 20

Last chance to impact yield by

Notes Nitrogen application

WEEK 12 DAYS 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

R2 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm 8mm High sensitivity to water deficit. N P2O5 K2O
mm
Water
hour/shift 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h 7h

Notes
 FOURTH MONTH
DATE:
___ / ___

WEEK 13 DAYS 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

R2-R3 mm 8mm 12mm 12mm Irrigation quantities and N P2O5 K2O
Water frequency are slightly reduced.
hour/shift 7h 11h 11h

Notes

WEEK 14 DAYS 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha

R3 mm 6mm 9mm 9mm N P2O5 K2O
Water
hour/shift 6h 8h 8h

Notes

WEEK 15 DAYS 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha
R3-R4 14mm 8mm 8mm N P2O5 K2O
mm
Water
hour/shift 13h 7h 7h

Notes

WEEK 16 DAYS 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 Remarks Fertilizer kg/ha
R4-R5 16mm 12mm Harvest time for silage corn and N P2O5 K2O
mm
Water last week of irrigation for
hour/shift 14h 11h grain corn.

Notes
GROW MORE WITH LESS
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