Experimental study was conducted in arid environment of Linze desert oasis to evaluate the effect of limited irrigation on maize yield. There are six limited irrigation treatments (including CK) with different irrigation quota (MI1: 618 mm, MI2: 666 mm, MI3: 642 mm, MI4: 717 mm, and MI5: 777 mm; CK: 897 mm) in the whole growing season of maize; each treatment distributes different irrigation water amount in growing stages. The result indicated that the highest grain yield was obtained in MI1 with the least growing season irrigation, and its grain yield was more higher than MI2 and MI4 by 25.7% and 38.8% respectively, in spite of slightly more irrigation of MI2 and much more irrigation of MI4. The irrigation amount of MI1 was the least but its yield was higher than CK with the most amount of irrigation. However, no significant difference was found among MI1 and other treatments and the check (CK). For the spike girth, bald tip length, and spike rows of maize, no significant difference was found among all the treatments and CK, but for the other yield traits, significant differences were found among some treatments and CK. The spike length was increased by 15.3%, 13.6% and 12.4% in CK, MI5 and MI1 than in MI4. The row grain number was increased by 17.3%, 13.9% and 12.2% in CK, MI1 and MI5 than in MI4. The spike grain number in CK was increased by 19.3%, 19.1%and 14.5% than in MI4, MI2 and MI3. The thousand grain weight in MI1 was increased by 26.9%, 14.0% and 14.0% than in MI4, MI5 and CK.