Less Water, Same Taste: New Approach Helps Growers Produce Sweet Corn More Efficiently

University of Missouri researchers are exploring ways to grow sweet corn more efficiently to help American farmers cut costs.

In a recent study, scientists from Mizzou’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and College of Engineering found sweet corn can be grown using less water without sacrificing the flavor that consumers have come to expect.

Sweet corn relies more heavily on water than other vegetables during the growing process. To determine the most effective irrigation strategy, Associate Professor Noel Aloysius and graduate student Moussa Theodore Yatta compared three different ways of watering sweet corn.

One approach relied on rainfall alone, resulting in the lowest crop yield.

Another method — potential evapotranspiration — relied on weather data such as solar radiation, air temperature, humidity and wind to estimate water use. In most of those cases, more water was applied than the plants needed.

The third method, known as crop-specific evapotranspiration, tailored the amount of water based on how much the corn needs at each stage of growth. Because sweet corn requires relatively little water in early stages, but demand rapidly rises as the plants begin reproduction, Mizzou researchers adjusted irrigation schedules accordingly. This targeted approach proved to be the preferred method, helping conserve water without hurting crop quality.