Using Thermal Units for Crop Coefficient Estimation and Irrigation Scheduling Improves Yield and Water Productivity of Corn (Zea mays L.)
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Volume 139, Issue 3
Abstract
Estimates of the daily crop coefficient (Kc) for corn and irrigation scheduling were performed during 2009 and 2010 by means of two approaches: Treatment I, computation of Kc using the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) method; and Treatment II, computation of Kc from relative fraction of thermal units. Corn crop water requirements and irrigation gross depth for Treatment I were approximately 25 to 33% lower than those for Treatment II in 2009 and 2010, respectively. However, the performance of Treatment II was better in terms of grain yield, which was (in 2009) and (in 2010), approximately 37 and 29% higher, respectively, than that for Treatment I. Water productivity was approximately 10% higher for Treatment II during 2009 and practically the same percentage higher than that for Treatment I during 2010. Because of year-to-year variability, water productivity was approximately 25% (Treatment II) and 11% (Treatment I) higher for 2010 than for 2009. Finally, economic productivity for Treatment II was for both seasons, much higher than that for Treatment I ( in 2009 and in 2010). These results confirm that using fraction of thermal units to estimate corn crop coefficient has improved the yield and water management of this crop under the conditions of this study. Because of the limitations of the study (only 2 years and one experimental plot), further evaluations under other conditions (e.g., climatic, cultivar) should be performed.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 3 • March 2013
Pages: 214 - 220
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 22, 2012
Accepted: Aug 7, 2012
Published online: Aug 18, 2012
Published in print: Mar 1, 2013
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