Abstract: A two-year (2020-2021) field experiment was conducted at the National Agricultural Environmental Station for Agricultural Environment in Fuxin. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design, consisting of five sowing dates with three furrow depths each year. Seeds were sown on April 11 (T1), April 18 (T2), April 25 (T3), May 2 (T4) and May 9 (T5), respectively, in 2020, and were sown on April 18 (T2), April 25 (T3), May 2 (T4), May 9 (T5) and May 16 (T6), respectively, in 2021. The furrow depths including 5cm (D0, convention planting as the control), 10cm (D1) and 20cm (D2), respectively. By measuring above-ground dry matter, grain yield and yield components, soil water content on the sowing and harvesting day, and soil water storage and maize water use efficiency were calculated, so as to explore the rule of dry matter accumulation and allocation of spring maize, and the changes in resource utilization efficiency under the influence of sowing dates and furrow depths. Both contribute to optimize the cultivation technology of spring maize by selecting suitable sowing date and furrow depth in semi-arid region. The results showed that the sowing dates from April 18 to May 2 were beneficial to the accumulation of above-ground dry matter. Compared with the average of other sowing dates, the maturity period was increased by 8.0%, and promoted the allocation of dry matter to ear weight, with an average yield 9.9% higher than other sowing dates. The water use efficiency was significantly improved. The production efficiency of solar radiation, growing degree days, and rainfall increased first and then decreased with the delay of sowing date. The above-ground dry matter and panicle ear weight were D2>D1>D0 in different furrow depth treatments at the maturity stage. The grain yield of D2 and D1 treatments was significantly higher than that of D0 (11.1% on average), and there was a significant difference in water use efficiency in 2020. Considering yield, resource utilization efficiency and variation coefficient of yield, authors concluded that suitable sowing dates(April 25-May 2) and 20cm furrow depth were the most beneficial to high yield and resource utilization efficiency of maize in semi-arid area of western Liaoning.

Key words: Sowing dates, Furrow depths, Water use efficiency, Resource utilization efficiency, Yield