Field Crop 2025, Vol.8, No.3, 113-125 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/fc 119 silk production period of corn. This period is a crucial window for determining the number of grains per panicle. If the supply of water or nutrients is insufficient, it is prone to pollen sterility or poor silk dry pollination, resulting in bald tips and grain loss. Drip irrigation fertilization can keep the soil moist and maintain a high nitrogen level before and after tasseling, prolonging the vitality of pollen and filaments, thereby increasing the success rate of pollination and fertilization as well as the seed setting rate (Deng et al., 2012). In practice, timely water and fertilizer replenishment during the silk production period through drip irrigation can significantly reduce the length of bald tips and increase the number of grains per spike. 5.2 The improvement effect on the quality characteristics of corn In addition to yield, the integrated drip irrigation and water and fertilizer system also has a certain impact and improvement effect on the quality of corn kernels. The quality of corn kernels usually includes nutritional qualities such as crude protein, crude fat and starch content, as well as process qualities such as bulk density and particle size uniformity. The level and mode of water and fertilizer supply directly affect the grain filling rate and nutrient accumulation, thereby influencing these quality indicators. Under conditions of adequate water and fertilizer, corn can obtain more nitrogen for the synthesis of grain protein, and thus the crude protein content often increases. Studies have shown that moderate irrigation can reduce the starch content in grains while slightly increasing the protein content. This is because the proportion of protein in the assimilation products of plants increases when there is sufficient water, while the proportion of carbohydrates is higher under drought conditions (Mahboob et al., 2020). Drip irrigation with integrated water and fertilizer is conducive to protein synthesis and accumulation by maintaining soil moisture and sufficient available nitrogen (Saracoglu and Oktem, 2021; Du et al., 2024). 5.3 Evaluation of economic and ecological benefits In addition to yield, the integrated drip irrigation and water and fertilizer system also has a certain impact and improvement effect on the quality of corn kernels. The quality of corn kernels usually includes nutritional qualities such as crude protein, crude fat and starch content, as well as process qualities such as bulk density and particle size uniformity. The level and mode of water and fertilizer supply directly affect the grain filling rate and nutrient accumulation, thereby influencing these quality indicators. Under conditions of adequate water and fertilizer, corn can obtain more nitrogen for the synthesis of grain protein, and thus the crude protein content often increases. Studies have shown that moderate irrigation can reduce the starch content in grains while slightly increasing the protein content. This is because when there is sufficient water, the proportion of protein in the assimilation products of plants rises, while under drought conditions, the proportion of carbohydrates is higher. Drip irrigation with integrated water and fertilizer is conducive to protein synthesis and accumulation by maintaining soil moisture and sufficient available nitrogen (Brar et al., 2021; Guo et al., 2022; Wu et al., 2025). 6 Environmental Effects and Significance for Sustainable Development 6.1 Water resource conservation and improvement of irrigation efficiency The development of drip irrigation and integrated water and fertilizer management is of great significance for alleviating the pressure on agricultural water use and improving the efficiency of water resource utilization. Corn is a crop with a large water demand. Under the traditional flood irrigation mode, the irrigation quota is high and the utilization rate is low, resulting in the waste of water resources and the over-exploitation of groundwater. Drip irrigation achieves the same or even higher yield with less irrigation water by reducing ineffective evaporation and leakage, significantly enhancing the irrigation water productivity. According to statistics, drip irrigation for corn can save 20% to 40% of irrigation water compared with traditional border irrigation, and increase water productivity by more than 30% (Wu et al., 2017; Ma et al., 2022). In a certain demonstration in the North China Plain, the total irrigation amount during the growth period of corn under the drip irrigation water and fertilizer model was approximately 120 mm, which was only about half of that under the traditional furrow irrigation, but achieved a slightly higher yield per mu (Tian et al., 2017). This phenomenon of "saving water without reducing production" fully demonstrates the water-saving potential of drip irrigation technology. Large-scale promotion of drip irrigation will have a positive impact on the balance of regional water resources. Take North China as an example. In this area, excessive groundwater has been exploited for agricultural irrigation for many years,
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