Evapotranspiration and responses to irrigation of broccoli

In cold, semi-arid areas, the options for crop diversification are limited by climate and by the water supply available. Growing irrigated crops outside the main season is not easy, because of climatic and market constraints. We carried out an experiment in Albacete, Central Spain, to measure the water use (evapotranspiration, ET) of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica Plenck) planted in late summer and harvested at the end of fall. A weighing lysimeter was used to measure the seasonal ET under sprinkler irrigation. Consumptive use reached 359 mm for a period of 109 days after transplanting. The crop coefficient (K_c) for broccoli was obtained and compared to the standard recommendations for normal planting dates. Dual crop coefficient computations of the lysimeter ET data indicated that evaporation represented 31% of seasonal ET. An analysis of the variation in daily K_c values at a time of full cover suggested that the use of a grass lysimeter as a reference ET (ET_o) was superior to using the ASCE Penman-Monteith (ASCE PM) equation at hourly time steps, which in turn caused less variability in K_c than when using the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith (FAO-56 PM) equation at daily time steps for the ET_o calculation. An additional experiment aimed at evaluating the yield response to applied irrigation water by the drip method (seven treatments, from 59 to 108% of ET_c) generated a production function that gave maximum yields of near 12 t ha⁻¹ at an irrigation level of 345 mm, and a water use efficiency of 3.37 kg m⁻³. It is concluded that growing broccoli in the fall season is a viable alternative for crop diversification, as the lower yields obtained here may be more than compensated for by the higher produce prices in autumn, at a time of the year where irrigation water demand for other crops is very low.     

Evapotranspiration, crop coefficient and growth of two young pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) varieties under salt stress

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a drought-hardy crop, suited to arid and semi-arid regions, where the use of marginal water for agriculture is on the rise. The use of saline water in irrigation affects various biochemical processes. For a number of crops, yields have been shown to decrease linearly with evapotranspiration (ET) when grown in salt-stressed environments. In the case of pomegranate, little research has been conducted regarding the effect of salt stress. Our study focused on the responses of ET, crop coefficient (K_c) and growth in pomegranate irrigated with saline water. Experiments were conducted using lysimeters with two varieties of pomegranate, P. granatum L. vars. Wonderful and SP-2. The plants were grown with irrigation water having an electrical conductivity (EC_iw) of 0.8, 1.4, 3.3, 4.8 and 8 dS m⁻¹. Plants were irrigated with 120% of average lysimeter-measured ET. Seasonal variation in ET, crop coefficient (K_c) and growth were recorded. Variation in daily ET was observed 1 month after initiation of the treatments. While significant seasonal ET variation was observed for the EC-0.8 treatment, it remained more stable for the EC-8 treatment. Salinity treatment had a significant effect on both daily ET (F = 131, p < 0.01) and total ET (F = 112.68, p = 0.001). Furthermore, the electrical conductivity of the drainage water (EC_dw) in the EC-8 treatment was five times higher than that of the EC-0.8 treatment in the peak season. Fitting the relative ET (ET_r) to the Maas and Hoffman salinity yield response function showed a 10% decrease in ET per unit increase in electrical conductivity of the saturated paste extract (EC_e) with a threshold of 1 dS m⁻¹. If these parameters hold true in the case of mature pomegranate trees, the pomegranate should be listed as a moderately sensitive crop rather than a moderately tolerant one. Fitting 30-day interval ET_r data to the Maas and Hoffman salinity yield response function showed a reduction in the slope as the season progressed. Thus using a constant slope in various models is questionable when studying crop-salinity interactions. In addition, both of the varieties showed similar responses under salt stress. Moreover, the calculated value of K_c is applicable for irrigation scheduling in young pomegranate orchards using irrigation water with various salinities.     

Evapotranspiration of an hedge-pruned olive orchard in a semiarid area of NE Spain

The evapotranspiration of hedge-pruned olive orchards (Olea europaea L. cv. Arbequina) was measured under the semiarid conditions of the middle Ebro River Valley in a commercial olive orchard (57 ha) during 2004 and 2005. No measured ET_c values for this type of olive orchards have previously been reported. An eddy covariance system (krypton hygrometer KH20 and 3D sonic anemometer CSAT3, Campbell Scientific) was used. The eddy covariance measurements showed a lack of the energy balance closure (average imbalance of 26%). Then sensible and latent heat (LE) flux values were corrected using the approach proposed by Twine et al. (2000) in order to get daily measured olive evapotranspiration (ET_c) and crop coefficient (K_c) values. The highest measured monthly ET_c averages were about 3.1-3.3 mm day⁻¹, while the total seasonal ET_c during the irrigation period (March-October) was about 585 mm (in 2004) and 597 mm (in 2005). Monthly K_c values varied from about 1.0 (Winter) to 0.4-0.5 (Spring and Summer). These K_c values were similar to K_c values reported for round-shape canopy olive orchards, adjusted for ground cover, particularly during late Spring and Summer months when differences among measured and published K_c values were about less than 0.1.     

Assessing satellite-based basal crop coefficients for irrigated grapes (Vitis vinifera L.)

A combined methodology of basal crop coefficient (K_cb) derived from vegetation indices (VI) obtained from satellite images and a daily soil water balance in the root zone of the crop was proposed to accurately estimate the daily grape crop coefficient and actual evapotranspiration. The modeled values were compared with field measurements of crop evapotranspiration (ET) using an energy balance eddy-covariance flux tower and adjusted for closure using the measured Bowen ratio. A linear relation between K_cb and VI for vineyard was obtained, K_cb = 1.44 × NDVI-0.10 and K_cb = 1.79 × SAVI-0.08. The correlation of the measured crop coefficient (K_c) and modeled (K_crf) exhibits a linear tendency, K_c = 0.96K_crf, r² = 0.67. Other derived parameters such as weekly K_c and daily and weekly ET show good consistency with measurements and higher coefficients of determination. The study of the soil water balance suggests the importance of soil water storage in grapes within the La Mancha region. These results validate the use of remote sensing as a tool for the estimation of evapotranspiration of irrigated wine grapes planted on trellis systems.     

Evaluation of satellite evapotranspiration estimates using ground-meteorological data available for the Flumen District into the Ebro Valley of N.E. Spain

Accurate estimation of actual evapotranspiration (ET_a) is essential for effective local or regional water management. At a local scale, ET estimates can be made accurately considering a soil-plant-atmospheric system, if adequate meteorological-ground data or ET measurements are available. However, at a regional scale, ET_a values cannot be measured directly and the estimates are frequently subject to errors. Although it is possible to extrapolate to the regional scale from local (point) data of meteorological stations, the relative sparse coverage of ground estimate can make this problematic without some spatial analysis to demonstrate the similarity of the climate in the area. The introduction of remote sensing data and techniques offers alternatives both to estimate variables (i.e. radiation) and parameters (i.e. ET) with few spatial restrictions, thus, it provides potential advantages to the regional ET_a computation. In particular, the use of remote sensing procedures like the surface energy balance-based algorithms (SEB) have been successfully applied in different climates, enabling the estimation of ET_a at local and regional scales. A proper variation of the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) was applied to 4 years of data for the Flumen District in the Ebro Basin at the N.E. of Spain. Results obtained show that the remote sensing algorithm can provide accurate daily ET_a estimations as compared with lysimeter measurements of daily ET values for two crop plots: one with a reference grass and other with maize or wheat as function of the season. Also a comparison between ET_a and the reference and crop ET values applying the Penman-Monteith method was carried out. The comparison analysis consider an accepted error difference of 1.0 mm d⁻¹ (20% of error) for local scale, the ET_a values for the grass show a bias of 0.30 mm d⁻¹ against the ET_grass and a bias of 0.36 mm d⁻¹ against ET_o. Differences between ET_maize or ET_wheat and ET_a against their average showed an acceptable agreement for the field with s_diff ± 0.6 mm d⁻¹. For the crop fields at regional scale external causes associated to atmospheric and surface variations (i.e. land preparation) rather to the remote sensing algorithm made difficult to determine a percentage of error. Finally, ET_a values were obtained at regional scale and it was demonstrated that using the remote sensing improve significantly the crop ET estimations computed in the area using traditional methods.     

Changes in evapotranspiration over irrigated winter wheat and maize in North China Plain over three decades

Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important component of the water cycle at field, regional and global scales. This study used measured data from a 30-year irrigation experiment (1979-2009) in the North China Plain (NCP) on winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and summer maize (Zea mays L.) to analyze the impacts of climatic factors and crop yield on ET. The results showed that grass reference evapotranspiration (ET_o, calculated by FAO Penmen-Monteith method) was relatively constant from 1979 to 2009. However, the actual seasonal ET of winter wheat and maize under well-watered condition gradually increased from the 1980s to the 2000s. The mean seasonal ET was 401.4 mm, 417.3 mm and 458.6 mm for winter wheat, and 375.7 mm, 381.1 mm and 396.2 mm for maize in 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, respectively. The crop coefficient (K_c) was not constant and changed with the yield of the crops. The seasonal average K_c of winter wheat was 0.75 in the 1980s, 0.81 in the 1990s and 0.85 in the 2000s, and the corresponding average grain yield (GY) was 4790 kg ha⁻¹, 5501 kg ha⁻¹ and 6685 kg ha⁻¹. The average K_c of maize was 0.88 in the 1980s, 0.88 in the 1990s and 0.94 in the 2000s, with a GY of 5054 kg ha⁻¹, 7041 kg ha⁻¹ and 7874 kg ha⁻¹, respectively, for the three decades. The increase in ET was not in proportion to the increase in GY, resulting improved water use efficiency (WUE). The increase in ET was possibly related to the increase in leaf stomatal conductance with renewing in cultivars. The less increase in water use with more increase in grain production could be partly attributed to the significant increase in harvest index. The results showed that with new cultivars and improved management practices it was possible to further increase grain production without much increase in water use.     

A simple irrigation scheduling approach for pecans

Pecans are a major crop in New Mexico's Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). It is estimated that New Mexico is responsible for about 21% of the world's pecan production (Lillywhite et al., 2007). Currently, approximately 12,000 ha of pecan orchards at various stages of growth consume 45% of the area's irrigation water. Pecan evapotranspiration (ET) varies with age, canopy cover, soil type, crop density and method of water management. Intense competition for the LRGV's limited water supply has created a serious need for better water management through improved irrigation scheduling. Annual pecan ET ranges from as low as 500 mm to as high as 1400 mm. Diversity of the pecan crop coefficient (K_c) and ET makes the task of irrigation scheduling for this crop very complicated. Using remote sensing technology and field ET measurements, a simple relationship was developed to relate crop coefficient and ET to canopy cover. This relationship is then used in combination with climate data to calculate daily and weekly water requirements for each orchard. The difference between annual ET values estimated from canopy cover and values measured with an eddy covariance flux tower ranged from 2 to 5%. The average ratio of estimated monthly ET values over measured ET values was 1.03 with the standard error of the estimate ranging from 10 to 20 mm/month. This methodology provides a simple tool that farmers can use to schedule irrigation of pecan orchards. Even though the methodology was developed for irrigation scheduling in the LRGV, it can be used in other locations by transferring the reference crop coefficients using K_c-GDD relationships.     

Evaporation and canopy conductance of citrus orchards

Evaporation of citrus orchards has been widely studied, but differences in methodologies and management conditions have led to conflicting results, mainly due to differences in ground cover and soil evaporation. In this work the contribution of transpiration and soil evaporation has been studied in a drip-irrigated, clean cultivated mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) orchard on a sandy soil in Southern Spain. Evapotranspiration (ET) was measured using eddy covariance while soil evaporation was determined with microlysimeters, during August 2000 and May 2001. Average ET was 2.6 mm day⁻¹ in August and 2.1 mm day⁻¹ in May. The crop coefficient (K_c) was 0.44 and 0.43 in 2000 and 2001, respectively. The coefficient of transpiration (K_p) was 0.30 in 2000 and 0.25 in 2001. The daily bulk canopy conductance (g_c) ranged from 1.2 to 2.2 (average 1.8) mm s⁻¹ in 2000 and from 1.2 to 2.7 (average 1.9) mm s⁻¹ in 2001. A model of daily canopy conductance as a function of intercepted radiation was derived and applied to calculate the transpiration of orchards with different values of ground cover (GC). The ratio of transpiration over reference ET of mandarin orchards is linearly related to ground cover (K_p = 0.7 GC). Calculated crop coefficients agree with values suggested by FAO for mature orchards (around 0.65) but are substantially lower than FAO values for young plantations.     

Evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of spring maize with plastic mulch using eddy covariance in northwest China

Spring maize under plastic mulch is the staple food crop in northwest China. Studying its evapotranspiration (ET) and crop coefficient (K_c) is important for managing water-saving irrigation in the region. Eddy covariance (EC) was applied to measure spring maize ET in 2007 in northwest China, focusing on the characteristics of the maize ET and K_c processes under plastic mulch. An interesting result was that a higher K_c in this study relative to the value of FAO 56 was presented in the mid and late season, e.g. average K_c was 1.46, 1.39 and 1.22 during the heading, filling and maturity stage, respectively. This result was mainly due to that (1) the plastic mulch had an effect on anti-senescence of maize and great green leaf still existed before the harvest; (2) the FAO 56 PM model may underestimate the reference crop ET in the mid and late season of maize in the region; (3) the planting density was higher in the study, which was about 374,800 plants ha⁻¹. Though K_c during the mid and late season was high, a high water use efficiency of 25.2 kg ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹ was still obtained in the study. Our study confirmed that plastic mulch has beneficial effect on improving maize water use efficiency in this severe water shortage region of northwest China.     

Interactive responses to water deficits and crop load in olive (Olea europaea L., cv. Morisca). II: Water use, fruit and oil yield

To understand the relations between water use and yield in response to crop load, two experiments were conducted in olive (cv. Morisca), during six consecutive years (2002-2007) in an experimental orchard located in Badajoz, Southwest Spain. Experiment 1, assessed the responses during the early years of the orchard (2002-2004) using four irrigation treatments that applied fractions of the estimated crop evapotranspiration (ET_c) (125%, 100%, 75% and 0%) and three crop load levels (100%, 50% and 0% of fruit removal, termed Off, Medium and On treatments). Experiment 2 assessed the response of more mature trees (2005-2007) to three irrigation treatments (115%, 100%, and 60% of ET_c) and the natural crop load which were Off, On, and Medium in 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively. Yield was reduced by water deficits and so did the estimated tree transpiration which was linearly related to yield (y = 1.2302x − 21.15, R² = 0.8864), showing the high sensitivity of cultivar Morisca to water deficits. The relations between fruit number and fruit weight showed that high crop loads had lower fruit weights and oil yield, a decrease that was more pronounced as water deficits increased. The yield response to water supply in the control and excess treatments, and the observations on the water relations of these two treatments suggest that the calculations made using the FAO method (Doorenbos and Pruit, 1974) with the crop coefficient proposed by Pastor et al. (1998) and the reduction coefficient (Fereres et al., 1982) to apply 100% of ET_c in the control treatment, underestimated the ET_c of the orchard. The results indicate that, although the absence of fruits lead to reduced water use as compared to situations of medium and high crop loads, canopy size was much more determinant of orchard water requirements than crop load.     

Evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of Populus euphratica Oliv forest during the growing season in the extreme arid region northwest China

Based on successive observation, fifteen-day evapotranspiration (ET_c) of Populus euphratica Oliv forest, in the extreme arid region northwest China, was estimated by application of Bowen ratio-energy balance method (BREB) during the growing season in 2005. During the growing season in 2005, total ET_c was 446.96 mm. From the beginning of growing season, the ET_c increased gradually, and reached its maximum value of 6.724 mm d⁻¹ in the last fifteen days of June. Hereafter the ET_c dropped rapidly, and reached its minimum value of 1.215 mm d⁻¹ at the end of growing season. The variation pattern of crop coefficient (K_c) was similar to that of ET_c. From the beginning of growing season, the K_c value increased rapidly, and reached its maximum value of 0.623 in the last fifteen days of June. Afterward, with slowing growth of P. euphratica, the value dropped rapidly to the end of growing season. According to this study, the ET_c of P. euphratica forest is affected not only by meteorological factors, but by water content in soil.     

Comparisons of energy balance and evapotranspiration between flooded and aerobic rice fields in the Philippines

The seasonal and annual variability of sensible heat flux (H), latent heat flux (LE), evapotranspiration (ET), crop coefficient (K_c) and crop water productivity (WP_ET) were investigated under two different rice environments, flooded and aerobic soil conditions, using the eddy covariance (EC) technique during 2008-2009 cropping periods. Since we had only one EC system for monitoring two rice environments, we had to move the system from one location to the other every week. In total, we had to gap-fill an average of 50-60% of the missing weekly data as well as those values rejected by the quality control tests in each rice field in all four cropping seasons. Although the EC method provides a direct measurement of LE, which is the energy used for ET, we needed to correct the values of H and LE to close the energy balance using the Bowen ratio closure method before we used LE to estimate ET. On average, the energy balance closure before correction was 0.72 ± 0.06 and it increased to 0.99 ± 0.01 after correction. The G in both flooded and aerobic fields was very low. Likewise, the energy involved in miscellaneous processes such as photosynthesis, respiration and heat storage in the rice canopy was not taken into consideration.Average for four cropping seasons, flooded rice fields had 19% more LE than aerobic fields whereas aerobic rice fields had 45% more H than flooded fields. This resulted in a lower Bowen ratio in flooded fields (0.14 ± 0.03) than in aerobic fields (0.24 ± 0.01). For our study sites, evapotranspiration was primarily controlled by net radiation. The aerobic rice fields had lower growing season ET rates (3.81 ± 0.21 mm d⁻¹) than the flooded rice fields (4.29 ± 0.23 mm d⁻¹), most probably due to the absence of ponded water and lower leaf area index of aerobic rice. Likewise, the crop coefficient, K_c, of aerobic rice was significantly lower than that of flooded rice. For aerobic rice, K_c values were 0.95 ± 0.01 for the vegetative stage, 1.00 ± 0.01 for the reproductive stage, 0.97 ± 0.04 for the ripening stage and 0.88 ± 0.03 for the fallow period, whereas, for flooded rice, K_c values were 1.04 ± 0.04 for the vegetative stage, 1.11 ± 0.05 for the reproductive stage, 1.04 ± 0.05 for the ripening stage and 0.93 ± 0.06 for the fallow period. The average annual ET was 1301 mm for aerobic rice and 1440 mm for flooded rice. This corresponds to about 11% lower total evapotranspiration in aerobic fields than in flooded fields. However, the crop water productivity (WP_ET) of aerobic rice (0.42 ± 0.03 g grain kg⁻¹ water) was significantly lower than that of flooded rice (1.26 ± 0.26 g grain kg⁻¹ water) because the grain yields of aerobic rice were very low since they were subjected to water stress.The results of this investigation showed significant differences in energy balance and evapotranspiration between flooded and aerobic rice ecosystems. Aerobic rice is one of the promising water-saving technologies being developed to lower the water requirements of the rice crop to address the issues of water scarcity. This information should be taken into consideration in evaluating alternative water-saving technologies for environmentally sustainable rice production systems.     

Temporal and spatial variations of evapotranspiration for spring wheat in the Shiyang river basin in northwest China

The methods for estimating temporal and spatial variation of crop evapotranspiration are useful tools for irrigation scheduling and regional water allocation. The purpose of this study was to develop a method for mapping spatial distribution of crop evapotranspiration and analyze the temporal and spatial variation of spring wheat evapotranspiration in the Shiyang river basin in Northwest China in the last 50 years. DEM-based methods were employed to estimate the spatial distribution of spring wheat evapotranspiration (ET_c). Reference crop evapotranspiration (ET₀) was calculated with the Penman–Monteith equation using meteorological data measured from eight stations in the basin. Crop coefficient (K_c) was determined from measured evapotranspiration in spring wheat season in the region. The results showed that ET_c gradually increased in the upper reaches of the basin in the last 50 years, while the middle reaches showed a significant decreasing trend, and in other regions, no significant trend was found. These changes can be attributed to expansion of irrigation areas and climate change. The multiple regression analysis between ET_c and altitude, latitude, and aspect were carried out for eight weather stations and the relationships were used to map ET_c for the basin. The spatial variations of ET_c were analyzed for three typical growing seasons based their precipitation. Results showed that long-term average ET_c over cultivated land was increasing from 270 mm in southwest mountainous area to 591 mm in northeast oasis of the basin, and the relative error between the estimated ET_c in spring wheat growing season by reference evapotranspiration (ET₀) and crop coefficient (K_c), and the interpolated ET_c was within 11.1%.     

Determination of growth-stage-specific crop coefficients (KC) of maize and sorghum

A ratio of crop evapotranspiration (ET_C) to reference evapotranspiration (ET_O) determines a crop coefficient (K_C) value, which is related to specific crop phenological development to improve transferability of the K_C values. Development of K_C can assist in predicting crop irrigation needs using meteorological data from weather stations. The objective of the research was conducted to determine growth-stage-specific K_C and crop water use for maize (Zea Mays) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) at Texas AgriLife Research field in Uvalde, TX, USA from 2002 to 2008. Seven lysimeters, weighing about 14 Mg, consisted of undisturbed 1.5 m × 2.0 m × 2.2 m deep soil monoliths. Six lysimeters were located in the center of a 1-ha field beneath a linear-move sprinkler system equipped with low energy precision application (LEPA). A seventh lysimeter was established to measure reference grass ET_O. Crop water requirements, K_C determination, and comparison to existing FAO K_C values were determined over a 3-year period for both maize and sorghum. Accumulated seasonal crop water use ranged between 441 and 641 mm for maize and between 491 and 533 mm for sorghum. The K_C values determined during the growing seasons varied from 0.2 to 1.2 for maize and 0.2 to 1.0 for sorghum. Some of the values corresponded and some did not correspond to those from FAO-56 and from the Texas High Plains and elsewhere in other states. We assume that the development of regionally based and growth-stage-specific K_C helps in irrigation management and provides precise water applications for this region.     

Estimation of dwarf green bean water use under semi-arid climate conditions through ground-based remote sensing techniques

Determination of temporal and spatial distribution of water use (WU) within agricultural land is critical for irrigation management and could be achieved by remotely sensed data. The aim of this study was to estimate WU of dwarf green beans under excessive and limited irrigation water application conditions through indicators based on remotely sensed data. For this purpose, field experiments were conducted comprising of six different irrigation water levels. Soil water content, climatic parameters, canopy temperature and spectral reflectance were all monitored. Reference evapotranspiration (ET₀), crop coefficient K_c and potential crop evapotraspiration (ET_c) were calculated by means of methods described in FAO-56. In addition, WU values were determined by using soil water balance residual and various indexes were calculated. Water use fraction (WUF), which represents both excessive and limited irrigation applications, was defined through WU, ET₀ and K_c. Based on the relationships between WUF and remotely sensed indexes, WU of each irrigation treatments were then estimated. According to comparisons between estimated and measured WU, in general crop water stress index (CWSI) can be offered for monitoring of irrigated land. At the same time, under water stress, correlation between measured WU and estimated WU based on CWSI was the highest too. However, canopy-air temperature difference (T_c − T_a) is more reliable than others for excessive water use conditions. Where there is no data related to canopy temperature, some of spectral vegetation indexes could be preferable in the estimation of WU.     

Estimation of crop evapotranspiration of irrigation command area using remote sensing and GIS

This paper describes the use of satellite-based remote sensing (RS) data and geographic information system (GIS) tools for estimating seasonal crop evapotranspiration in Mahi Right Bank Canal (MRBC) command area of Gujarat, India. Crop coefficients (K_c) for various major crops grown in MRBC were estimated, empirically, from the RS derived soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) values. A reference crop evapotranspiration (ET₀) map was generated from point meteorological observations. The K_c and ET₀ maps were combined to generate seasonal crop evapotranspiration (ET_crop) map which highlighted spatial variation in ET_crop ranging from more than 600 mm for healthy tobacco crops to less than 150 mm for very poor wheat crops.     

Evapotranspiration and water use of full and deficit irrigated cotton in the Mediterranean environment in northern Syria

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is the most important industrial and summer cash crop in Syria and many other countries in the arid areas but there are concerns about future production levels, given the high water requirements and the decline in water availability. Most farmers in Syria aim to maximize yield per unit of land regardless of the quantity of water applied. Water losses can be reduced and water productivity (yield per unit of water consumed) improved by applying deficit irrigation, but this requires a better understanding of crop response to various levels of water stress. This paper presents results from a 3-year study (2004-2006) conducted in northern Syria to quantify cotton yield response to different levels of water and fertilizer. The experiment included four irrigation levels and three levels of nitrogen (N) fertilizer under drip irrigation. The overall mean cotton (lint plus seed, or lintseed) yield was 2502 kg ha⁻¹, ranging from 1520 kg ha⁻¹ under 40% irrigation to 3460 kg ha⁻¹ under 100% irrigation. Mean water productivity (WP_ET) was 0.36 kg lintseed per m³ of crop actual evapotranspiration (ET_c), ranging from 0.32 kg m⁻³ under 40% irrigation to 0.39 kg m⁻³ under the 100% treatment. Results suggest that deficit irrigation does not improve biological water productivity of drip-irrigated cotton. Water and fertilizer levels (especially the former) have significant effects on yield, crop growth and WP_ET. Water, but not N level, has a highly significant effect on crop ET_c. The study provides production functions relating cotton yield to ET_c as well as soil water content at planting. These functions are useful for irrigation optimization and for forecasting the impact of water rationing and drought on regional water budgets and agricultural economies. The WP_ET values obtained in this study compare well with those reported from the southwestern USA, Argentina and other developed cotton producing regions. Most importantly, these WP_ET values are double the current values in Syria, suggesting that improved irrigation water and system management can improve WP_ET, and thus enhance conservation and sustainability in this water-scarce region.     

Crop coefficient of sesame in a semi-arid region of I.R. Iran

Crop coefficient of sesame is necessary for the water requirement estimation in irrigation water planning and management. This study has been initiated to determine the crop coefficient (K_c) of sesame in a semi-arid climate. The relationships between K_c and ET_p/E_p (pan evaporation) and leaf area index (LAI), growing degree-day (GDD) and days after sowing (DAS), were also investigated. The seasonal ET_p for sesame in the study area with a 5 month growth period was 910 m. The mid-season and late-season K_c values for sesame were 1.08 and 0.64, respectively. These values are somewhat lower and higher than those for other oil seed crops. The K_c value for the initial stage was close to that obtained by the procedure proposed by Allen et al. [Allen, R.G., Smith, M., Pereira, L.S., Pruitt, W.O., 1997. Proposed revision to the FAO procedure for estimating evapotranspiration. In: The Second Iranian Congress on Soil and Water Issues, 15–17 February 1997. Tehran, I.R. of Iran, pp. 1–18]. The ratio of ET_p/E_p varied between 0.49–1.0 from the beginning to the middle of the growing season which is a sign of mild local advection in the region. The maximum ratios of ET_p/ET₀ and ET_p/E_p occurred at a LAI of 3.0. Furthermore, third-order polynomials were presented to predict the K_c values from days after sowing (DAS), percent days after sowing (%DAS) and growing degree-day (GDD).     

Variation in vineyard evapotranspiration in an arid region of northwest China

Grapevines are extensively grown in the arid region of China, but little information is available on the diurnal, seasonal and interannual variability of vineyard evapotranspiration (ET). To address this question, two vineyards in the arid region of northwest China were taken as an example to study the variation of ET using Bowen ratio-energy balance method in 2005-2008. Results indicate that the Bowen ratio method provided accurate estimate of vineyard ET as the instrument was correctly installed. Irrigation and rainfall increased daily ET by 38 and 175%, respectively, but frost decreased it by 32%. Daily ET had a maximum value of 1.6-3.5 mm/d at the berry development stage, and a minimum value of 0.8-1.7 mm/d at the early and later stages. The total ET was 226-399 mm over the growing season. The ratio of transpiration to evapotranspiration was 0.52 and the modified crop coefficient (K_cm) was 0.71-0.88 (except 2005) over the whole growing stage. Larger interannual difference of ET and K_cm mainly resulted from the difference of irrigation and rainfall between different years.     

Lysimetric determination of muskmelon crop coefficients cultivated under plastic mulches

A trial was carried out at the lysimeter station in southern Italy on muskmelon crop cultivated with and without plastic mulch during spring–summer in 2001 and 2003. The objective of the experiment was to verify the reliability of the crop evapotranspiration (ET_c) estimate by means of the most recent update of the FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, in comparison with ET_c directly measured by two mechanical weighing lysimeters.Crop coefficients (K_c) were determined during different development stages based on lysimetric measures of ET_c and of the reference evapotranspiration (ET₀) estimated through the Penman Monteith and the Hargreaves methods. On melon crop cultivated without plastic mulch, corrected crop coefficients (K_c) following the last FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56 procedures were well correlated with those measured from lysimeter and were as reliable as the ET_c estimate. In contrast, values of K_c proposed by FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56 for crops grown with plastic mulch were meaningfully lowers than those measured from lysimeter, loading to an underestimation of water consumption. On muskmelon, cultivated with and without plastic mulch, it is necessary to adapt development phase duration, suggested by the FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56, to the real phenology of the employed cultivar. An adaptation of the phenology to the real duration of the single phases is essential to avoid error in the estimate of ET_c.