Abstract: 【Objective】 The objective of this experiment is to explore the annual water demand of maize, meteorological factors, water productivity, crop coefficient and characteristics of growth and physiological dynamics of maize cultivated by using drip irrigation under membrane in the northern Tianshan area in the south edge of Zhunggar Basin in Xinjiang, and to provide a theoretical basis for adjusting regional crop planting structure and saving water.【Method】At the Xinjiang Irrigation Center Experimental Station, Four different irrigation quotas of 300, 375, 450, and 525 m³·hm^-2 (denoted by T1, T2, T3, T4, respectively) were analyzed in a 3-year irrigation test carried out in 2013-2015. The correlations between the meteorological factors and the water demand of maize were studied by using the correlation analysis method to determine the water requirement, the crop coefficient, the growth index and the physiological index of intercropped maize. Changes of the main meteorological factors were also studied. 【Result】The total water consumption of maize in the interannual period increased with the increase of irrigation amount. The total water consumption in different treatments was 202.69, 243.22, 317.70 and 366.99 mm in 2013, that was 293.81, 372.18, 466.69, and 537.13 mm in 2014, and that was 326.84, 401.31, 490.76 and 569.33 mm in 2015, respectively. The total annual water consumption in 2015 was 5.66%, 4.90%, 7.26% and 10.11% higher than that in 2014, 35.54%, 35.26%, 39.39% and 37.98% higher than that in 2013. In 2014, water consumption was 31.68%, 31.92%, 34.65% and 31.01% higher than that in 2013. The average temperature in 2015 was 2.6%-3.3% higher than that in the previous two years; the effective rainfall was 30.4%-31.2% more than that in the previous two years, and the relative humidity was 11.5%-12.5% higher. The average temperature had a significant effect on the water demand from sowing to grain filling, and the coefficient of determination of linear regression equation was 0.98. The irrigation amount in the growing period was 3 570-6 370 m³·hm^-2, and the yield was 13 061-14 929 m³·hm^-2. The yield of maize was increased first and then decreased with the increase of irrigation amount. Water productivity decreased with the increase of irrigation volume, ranging from 5.92 to 1.75 kg·m^-3. With the irrigation quota increasing, the crop coefficient varied from 0.51 to 1.18. The crop coefficient in the three years was the highest at the grain filling-maturing stages, and its value was 1.01. The sowing-emergence coefficient was the smallest.【Conclusion】 There were significant differences in the total water consumption of maize in the inter-annual period, and the water consumption in the growth period was significant at the stages of jointing-tasseling, tasselling-grouting, and grouting-maturing. There were significant differences in the total water consumption between treatments at different stages, and the water consumption at each growth stage was significantly different between tassel-filling stage, filling stage and maturity stage. The average temperature, effective rainfall and relative humidity of meteorological factors are increasing year by year. Solar radiation, wind speed and average temperature are positively correlated with water demand, and relative humidity is negatively correlated with water requirement. At the jointing-tapping stage, the main meteorological factors are relative humidity and average temperature; At the tassel-grouting stage, the main meteorological factors are the average temperature. The main meteorological factors are solar radiation and wind speed. The average temperature had the greatest influence on water requirement in the maize growing period. The relationship between maize yield and irrigation amount in the whole growth period is quadratic parabola. The whole growth period of maize showed a single-peak change, and the peak appeared at tassel-filling stage. During the growing period, the plant height of maize increased with the increase of irrigation amount, the whole growth period showed a single peak change, and the peak value was at tasseling stage. The peak value of leaf area index appeared at grain filling stage, and chlorophyll peak appeared at tasseling stage.

Key words: drip irrigation under film, water demand, meteorological factor, water use efficiency, crop coefficient