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Abstract
The United States (U.S.) is the world's leading producer of fresh market sweet corn (Zeamays subsp. mays L.). In Georgia, over 9,000 ha (23,000 ac) of sweet corn are harvested
annually, valued at over USD 106 million in 2023. Failure to meet crop water needs can affect
yield and quality, prompting growers to over-irrigate. Over-irrigation can lead to inefficient
water use and soil health problems. Science-based irrigation scheduling tools that deliver
information on modern platforms are needed to improve irrigation water use efficiency and long-term sustainability. The overall goal of this study was to develop an affordable, user-friendly,
and reliable irrigation scheduling tool for sweet corn adapted to growing conditions in the
southeastern U.S. Two approaches were used to develop this tool. The first developed an
evapotranspiration (ET) -based model using the United Nations Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO)-56 method of estimating daily crop ET (ETc). The second approach used a
model based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to estimate ETc. The models
were evaluated with replicated field trials conducted in southwestern Georgia and compared to
other irrigation scheduling approaches. Evaluation metrics included yield, irrigation water use efficiency, and physical qualities related to the marketability of fresh market sweet corn. The
best performing model was incorporated into SmartIrrigation CropFit, an irrigation scheduling
tool that operates on a smartphone platform.