| This experiment was conducted on drought plain in southeastern Shanxi during spring corn growing seasons in 2010—2012. Water consumption, dry matter accumulation and partitioning, grain yield, and water use efficiency of spring corn were analyzed using four subsoiling periods, including subsoiling in spring(RS1), subsoiling in summer(RS2), subsoiling in autumn(RS3), and plowing tillage (CK). The results showed that RS3 had the highest total water consumption, followed by RS1, indicating that total water consumption was markedly increased by spring and autumn subsoiling. By contrast, that of RS2 was lower than CK, partially due to the injured root by summer subsoiling. In the late growth stage of spring corn, RS3 and RS1 can effectively promote the dry matter accumulation, increasing the spring corn biomass and improving crop yield. In 2011, RS3 obtained the highest grain yield and water use efficiency, being 13.61% and 10.26% higher than CK, respectively. And RS1 caused 10.32% and 7.62% increase respectively. In contrast, RS2 resulted in a reduction of 3.95% and 1.82% as compared to CK, respectively. This finding illustrated that RS3 and RS1 had favorable effects of improving grain yield and water use efficiency. |