This study was carried out to determine the effects of different dripline depths on physiological and agronomic parameters of maize (Zea mays L.) under the Mediterranean climatic conditions in Tunisia. Experimental site was located at conducted at the Higher Institute of Agronomy of Chott Meriem (Longitude 10°38’E, Latitude 35°55’N, altitude 15 m above sea level) on a sandy loam textured soil. Irrigation treatments consisted of four different driplines depths (T0: 0m, T1: 0.05 m, T2: 0.20 m and T3: 0.35 m). The crop was irrigated twice a week by regarding estimated crop water requirements. Dripline depth resulted in significantly different yields. The highest grain yield was obtained in T3 treatment with 1.347 kg m−2, and the lowest yield was found in T1 treatment with 1.007 kg m−2. leaf area, 100-kernel weight and grain yield from T3 were significantly higher than in the other three depths. According to the research results, optimum dripline depht for corn plant was found to be 0.35 m. But, it was no significantly effect on crop water use efficiency. The highest water use efficiency WUE was found in T3 (39.2 kg ha-1mm-1) and the lowest one was found in the T1 treatment 0.05 m deep (29.3 kg ha-1mm-1). Thus a depth of 0.35 m was recommended for subsurface drip-irrigated corn in the Mediterranean Region under those specific conditions.
