The success of sweet maize production is mainly determined by the significant variation in the effects of the crop year. In Hungary, a large number of drought periods justify the use of irrigation. Without irrigation, cultivation is risky, and in a severely drought year, even the return on costs is uncertain. Our tests were carried out in three different years (2020, 2021, 2022). In the growing season (May-August), the rainfall was 138 mm more in 2020, 65 mm less in 2021 and 140 mm less in 2022 compared to the long-term average. The water requirements of sweet maize were met by drip irrigation throughout the period. Based on the experimental results, compared to the yield of 11,359 t/ha in the extreme dry year of 2022, the yield was 5,828 t/ha higher in 2020 and 7,127 t/ha higher in 2021. Based on the results of the scientific research, it has been concluded that sweet maize production without irrigation is risky, but in extreme drought years irrigation cannot fully compensate for the weather effect due to high heat stress.