Summary:

The aim of the the research was to confirm the need for irrigation as the main yielding treatment in corn production on a very light soil with permeable subsoil in the area of distinct water deficits, and determining the effectiveness of nitrogen fertigation, compared with broadcast application method. Accurate field experiment was carried out in 2008-2010 on the experimental field of the Department of Land Reclamation and Agrometeorology of the University of Science and Technology in Kruszyn Krajeński near Bydgoszcz. During the study period occurred large irrigation needs in corn production, due to insufficient and uneven distribution of rainfall in the particular growing seasons. Seasonal irrigation dose averaged 194 mm.Obtained results showed that the cultivation of corn for grain in the area of distinct water deficits is purposeful only under the irrigation conditions. For non-irrigated variants the yield of dry matter of grain was only 0.87t.ha-1 and did not exceed in any year of the research the level of 1.0 t.ha-1. Under irrigation corn yielded on average 6.55 t of grain dry matter from 1 ha. A worth recommending irrigation system in corn production for grain is dripping system, in which effect of production per unit was higher than effects obtained with sprinkler irrigation in previous studies, carried out at the same site. Furthermore the system enables fertigation that means the use of fertilizers in liquid form together with irrigation. The use of nitrogen fertigation compared with nitrogen broadcast application method did not bring the expected significant differences of the most of examined corn features. The obtained results, however, showed a significant increase in thousand grain weight and the strong tendency to increase grain yield of fertigated plants.