Effects of shade and deficit irrigation on maize growth and development in fixed and dynamic AgriVoltaic systems

Maize production is essential for global food security and represents a major supply in several value chains. However, the projected effects of climate change are likely to decrease drastically water availability for crops in many regions, affecting yield. AgriVoltaics (AV) systems are an innovative solution that may improve maize resilience in water-scarce regions mainly by protecting plants from excessive radiation and by reducing irrigation needs. However, shade from panels may also affect crop development and production. This study addresses the interplay between radiation transmission, crop development and irrigation needs of maize cropping in field conditions, by the description of crop development dynamics, distinguishing between fixed and dynamic panels. We showed that maize crop responded to both independent and combined stresses (shade and water deficit), with a significant decrease in leaf area index, total dry matter and grain yield. Concerning water use, we showed the potential of AV to reduce irrigation inputs (by up to 19–47% compared to unshaded plots) via reduced soil water depletion and reference evapotranspiration. The crop development was impacted by shade by increasing phyllochron and causing a generalized delay in phenology. At a finer temporal scale, we concluded that maize leaves react to shade by reducing stomatal conductance, net assimilation of CO2 and leaf temperature in a correlated way to radiation, opening the possibility to use this behavior to optimize water use and shading strategies. The spatial heterogeneities of radiation in fixed AV systems, compared to dynamic AV systems, were identified as a second-order effect at the plot level on leaf area index and phyllochron, compared to the effect of radiation reduction. Moreover, dynamic AV showed their ability to reduce the spatial heterogeneities in soil water depletion, showing the importance of controlled shade strategies in AV systems concerning water use. •AV systems cause a decrease of maize production and a delay of crop development.•AV systems allow to improve irrigation water productivity.•Dynamic panels reduce the magnitude and heterogeneity of soil water depletion.•Leaf gas exchanges were well correlated with radiation dynamics in all conditions.