Impact of Water Scarcity on Maize Productivity in Egyptian Conditions for Climate Change Adaptation

Hegab, ِAhmed Sabry; Abdel Wahab, Mohamed Magdy; Hammad, Essam; Ahmed, Yosri Nasr; Khalil, Alaa Abdel Raouf Mohamed; Ali, Beelal Ali

doi:10.21608/agro.2025.373552.1665

Impact of Water Scarcity on Maize Productivity in Egyptian Conditions for Climate Change Adaptation

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Central Laboratory of Agricultural Climate, Agricultural Research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamatio

² Faculty of Science, Cairo University.

³ Climate Change Information Center, Agricultural Research Center

⁴ Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Egypt.

⁵ National center for meteorology, Saudi Arabia

⁶ Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt

10.21608/agro.2025.373552.1665

Abstract

Water scarcity is one of the detrimental consequences of climate change reflected in agricultural productivity. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the profitability of maize production for smallholder farmers in Egypt, considering the influence of climate change on limited water resources and the requirements of suitable irrigation methods that could help solve this critical issue. Therefore, two field experiments were conducted at Wadi El Natrun-El-Beheira Governorate during the summer seasons of 2022 and 2023. This work aimed to investigate the effects of three irrigation levels (60%, 80%, and 100%) and two irrigation systems (surface drip irrigation and subsurface drip irrigation) on growth, yield, and the economic assessments of production costs and returns of maize (Zea mays L.) hybrid planted on sandy soil. Results indicated that the subsurface drip irrigation system performs better than the surface drip irrigation. The economic assessments revealed that subsurface drip irrigation yielded a higher average yield, meeting 100% of irrigation requirements (3.74 t fed-1). Modernizing the subsurface drip irrigation system for maize crop is economically feasible, with a benefit-cost ratio of 2.58, indicating significant returns by reducing production costs and increasing revenues. As a result, the study recommends scaling up this system to all agricultural lands for maize crops because it has economic benefits and saves irrigation water.

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