Modelling analysis of water-use efficiency of maize in Heihe River Basin

In particular, the effects of planting areas on farmers' WUE were investigated. The result show current farmers' WUE of Maize is 0.67 on average, which still can be improved largely. The farmers' planting scales largely affect WUE of Maize. The farmers with planting scales of 0-0.3 ha and over 1.3 ha paid high attention to WUE. The optimal planting scale of water use efficiency of maize is around 3.3 ha. This study provides a scientific basis for the water resource use in arid and semiarid regions