Deficit irrigation (DI) has been implemented in arid regions to improve water productivity while maintaining or increasing crop yield. In this study, we carried out a global scale meta-analysis to (1) quantify the response ratios of grain yield (GY), actual crop evapotranspiration (ET_{c act}) and water productivity (WP) under DI stress. Then, we (2) examined the effects of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilizer rates, climate, soil texture, DI application mode, and maize growing cycle on GY, ET_{c act} and WP. A total of 1192 observations retrieved from 167 studies were used to estimate the effect size and generate forest plots for each factor at three different growth stages. The response ratio (RR) of maize GY was higher for short-cycle varieties (RR, −0.14), in semi-arid climates (RR, −0.25) and under irrigation amount reduction (RR, −0.21). Maize ET_{c act} was higher for long and medium cycle varieties (RR, −0.22), for medium-textured soils (RR, −0.14) and drier climates. The WP improved by 9% on heavy soils compared to both light and medium soils, indicating that heavy soils are more suitable for growing maize under DI. This study highlights that high DI stress was often applied with low nitrogen rates to limit reciprocal effect on yield loss. The application of DI stress before the reproductive stage induced an adaptation strategy that limits maize yield loss and improves WP. Thus, the application of DI stress should start earlier at the vegetative stage to be more beneficial to maize. Furthermore, DI stress should target early-maturing maize varieties to achieve higher crop WP. The findings imply that DI stress could be a promising strategy for water management in maize cropping systems while considering appropriate soil, growing stages, varieties and climate.

已在干旱地区实施了亏缺灌溉(DI)，以提高水的生产力，同时保持或增加作物产量。在这项研究中，我们进行了一项全球规模的荟萃分析，以 (1) 量化 DI 胁迫下谷物产量 (GY)、实际作物蒸散量 (ET _{c act} ) 和水分生产力 (WP) 的响应比。然后，我们 (2) 研究了氮 (N)、磷 (P) 和钾 (K) 施肥量、气候、土壤质地、DI 施用方式和玉米生长周期对 GY、ET _{c 作用的影响}和 WP。从 167 项研究中检索到的总共 1192 项观察结果用于估计效应大小并为每个因素在三个不同的生长阶段生成森林图。短周期品种（RR，-0.14）、半干旱气候（RR，-0.25）和减少灌溉量（RR，-0.21）的玉米GY响应比（RR）较高。玉米 ET _{c 作用}对于中长周期品种（RR，-0.22）、中等质地的土壤（RR，-0.14）和较干燥的气候，该值较高。与轻质和中等土壤相比，重质土壤的 WP 提高了 9%，表明重质土壤更适合在 DI 下种植玉米。该研究强调，高 DI 胁迫通常与低氮率一起应用，以限制对产量损失的相互影响。在生殖阶段之前应用 DI 胁迫诱导了一种限制玉米产量损失并提高 WP 的适应策略。因此，DI 胁迫的应用应在营养阶段更早开始，以对玉米更有利。此外，DI 胁迫应针对早熟玉米品种，以实现更高的作物 WP。