Abstract: Based on meteorological data from Fuxin Mongolian Autonomous County weather station in the last 30 years, crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling of spring maize were determined with CROPWAT model in different hydrological years (wet, normal, dry and extremely dry). The results indicated that crop water requirement of spring maize peaked at midseason stage, slightly decreased at last stage, and reached the lowest value at initial stage. Crop water requirement during the whole growing cycle was found to be 479.5-593.7 mm and reached its peak from heading stage to milk ripening stage. The coupling degree between spring maize water requirement and effective precipitation in the wet year was the highest, followed by the normal year, and the lowest in the extremely dry year. The net irrigation quotas were 127.6, 175.8, 296.5 and 411.6 mm in wet, normal, dry and extremely dry years, and the corresponding irrigation frequencies 3, 4, 6 and 8, respectively. The obtained results provided a theoretical basis for proper utilizing agricultural water resources and irrigation scheduling of spring maize, and could be used as efficient guidelines for local farmers to apply suitable irrigation scheduling.

Key words: spring maize, dry mattertransport, plastic film color, yield., water consumption characteristics