Abstract: Drought was one of the most important restricting factors to growth and development and yield formation for maize in Sichuan basin. To evaluate the severity of drought at different maize growth stages in Sichuan basin and provide a scientific basis for relevant departments to take effective hazard reduction measures, the drought level index was selected and drought distribution, such as drought intensity and frequency, in Sichuan basin was analyzed. The drought index was analyzed by using a maize water budget model including precipitation and crop water requirement, as variables. Drought index in Sichuan basin was classified by analysing the typical drought years and the corresponding drought data in history. The spatial drought distribution in different maize growth stages, drought intensity and frequency in recent 50 years was conducted by ArcGIS. The results showed that the maize drought occurred in high frequency between jointing stage and milk ripe stage. Sichuan basin was divided into three arid areas, and the south of Daba mountains, Fu river and Tuo river basin had the highest drought frequency through the whole growth season, generally greater than 50%.

Key words: Maize, Water budget index, Drought frequency, Spatial distribution