Maize growth in Northeast China is suffering from climate change (seasonal drought, cold springs) and low nutrient use efficiency caused by one-time fertilization. Drip fertigation is widely used in vegetable and fruit plant production, yet an efficient, practicable and cost-effective drip fertigation system is lacking for maize production. A two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of different drip fertigation methods for increasing maize yield, and water and nutrient use efficiency in sandy and clay soil. Five irrigation methods were applied in each soil: conventional (rain-fed, CK), drip irrigation (DI), surface drip fertigation (SDF), fertigation plus plastic film mulching (SDFP), and subsurface fertigation (SSDF). Compared with rain-fed method (CK), water optimization by DI increased grain yield by (28% in sandy soil and 12% in clay soil), partial fertilizer productivity (PFP) and nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) uptake, without effect on water productivity (WP) in both soils. The optimization of both water and nutrient management by SDF increased grain yield by (41% in sandy soil and 17% in clay soil), PFP and NPK uptake, at greater extent than DI. Furthermore, SDF also increased the water productivity in both soils. Compared with DI, SDF increased post-silking N in both soil, and K accumulation in sandy soil. There was no significant difference in yield and PFP between SDF, SSDF and SDFP methods in both soils. In sandy soil, the net profit of DI, SDF, SSDF and SDFP was 13%, 28%, 31% and 10% higher than that of CK, respectively. In clay soil, However, No obvious advantage in net income was found in either DI or fertigation treatments. SDF and SSDF are recommended to increase maize yield, water and nutrient use efficiency, as well as economic benefit synchronously in sandy soil.
