CROP WATER REQUIREMENTS

Species & variety

Growth Water
Climate
requirements
phase

Length of growing
period
VARIOUS FACTORS ON WATER USAGE

 Rainfall • Wind movement

 Temperature • Available irrigation
water supply
 Growing season
• Quality of water
 Stage of plant growth • Soil fertility
 Latitude & Sunlight • Humidity
DEF : CONSUMPTIVE USE
 Consumptive use or evapotranspiration is the amount of
water used by the growing plant in transpiration and
building of plant tissue and that evaporated from adjacent
soil or from intercepted rainfall on the plant foliage in any
specified time.
 Unit in mm or cm
DEF : CONSUMPTIVE WATER REQUIREMENT

 The amount of water potentially required to meet the

evapotranspiration needs of the plant so that the plant does
not suffer in its growth through short supply of water.
DEF : CONSUMPTIVE IRRIGATION REQUIREMENT

 The depth of irrigation water exclusive of rainfall, stored

moisture, or groundwater, that is required to meet
evapotranspiration during the crop period.
DEF : NET IRRIGATION REQUIREMENT

 The depth of irrigation water, exclusive of rainfall, stored

moisture, or groundwater, that is required consumptively for
crop production and required for other purposes such as
leaching.
DEF : EFFECTIVE RAINFALL

 Rainfall during the growing period of the crop that is

available to meet the evapotranspiration requirements of
crops.
 It does not include rainfall lost through deep percolation
below the root zone or through surface runoff.
 OR - Effective rainfall refers to the percentage of rainfall which becomes
available to plants and crops. It considers losses due to runoff,
evaporation and deep percolation.

 Formula for effective rainfall computation : Refer to edmodo (Task 1).

DEF : IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY

 The percentage of applied irrigation water stored in the soil

and available for consumptive use by the crop.
DEF : IRRIGATION WATER REQUIREMENT

 The net irrigation water requirement divided by the

irrigation efficiency is termed as irrigation water
requirement.
CROP WATER REQUIREMENT CALCULATION
 The crop water requirement basically based on Reference
Crop Evapotranspiration ET (sometimes called Potential
Evapotranspiration, PET)
 It is defined as the rate of evapotranspiration from a large
area covered by crops which grows actively that completely
shades the ground and which is not short of water.
 Evapotranspiration normally depends on the climate.
 The highest value of ET is found in areas which are hot, dry,
windy and sunny whereas the lowest values are observed in
areas where it is cool, humid and cloudy with little or no
wind.
HOW TO CALCULATE EVAPOTRANSPIRATION

The evapotranspiration can be calculated using some

of the following formulae, namely:-

a) Water Budget Method (ET = P – Q)

b) Blaney-Criddle Model (ET = F x K)
c) Thornthwaite Model (ET = 1.62 ((10Tm / I)a)
A) WATER BUDGET METHOD (ET = P – Q)

Where :
ET = evapotranspiration (mm/day)
P = Rainfall
Q = Surface Runoff
B) BLANEY-CRIDDLE MODEL (ET = F X K)
Where :
ET = evapotranspiration (mm/day)
F = (t x p)/100; known as consumptive use factor
t = (Mean Monthly Air Temperature (oC) converted to
Fahrenheit as followed : (t oC x (9/5)) +32oF).
p = percentage of day time (hours).
K = Crop coefficient
Crop coefficients are properties of plants used in predicting evapotranspiration
(ET). The most basic crop coefficient, Kc, is simply the ratio of ET observed
for the crop studied over that observed for the well calibrated reference crop
under the same conditions.
THORNTHWAITE MODEL

(ET = 1.62 ((10Tm / I )a)

Where :
ET = evapotranspiration (mm/month)
Tm = Mean monthly temperature
I = Heat Index;
12 1.51
𝑇𝑚
=
5
𝑚=1

a = exponent;
= 67.5 x 10-8I 3 – 77.1 x 10-6I 2 + 0.0179I + 0.492
SOIL MOISTURE
 The moisture content of soil also referred to as water
content is an indicator of the amount of water present in
soil.
 By definition, moisture content is the ratio of the mass of
water in a sample to the mass of solids in the sample,
expressed as a percentage.
 Soil moisture is a key variable in controlling the exchange of
water and heat energy between the land surface and the
atmosphere through evaporation and plant transpiration.
 As a result, soil moisture plays an important role in the
development of weather patterns and the production of
rainfall.
SOIL MOISTURE

 Soil water is the major component of the soil in relation to

plant growth.
 Not all the water, held in soil, is available to plants. Much of
water remains in the soil as a thin film.
 Soil water dissolves salts and makes up the soil solution,
which is important as medium for supply of nutrients to
growing plants.
MEASUREMENT OF SOIL MOISTURE

 Besides the fundamental gravimetric method of

measuring the water content of a soil sample, a wide
range of other approaches is available as simplified on
next slide.
SOIL MOISTURE MODELS
SMt = SMt – 1 + R – Q – L – E – T + C – P

where :
 SMt – Soil moisture at time t
 SMt-1 – Soil moisture at previous time
 R – Rainfall
 Q – Surface Runoff
 L - net lateral subsurface outflow
 E –Evaporation or condensation
 T – Transpiration
 C – Capillary rise from lower levels
 P - percolation
SOIL MOISTURE CALCULATION

mass of water evaporated (g)

Gravimetric moisture content (w) =
mass of dry soil (g)

volume of water evaporated (cm3)

Volumetric moisture content (θ) =
volume of soil (cm3)

= dry bulk density x Gravimetric moisture content

Where:
mass of dry soil (g)
Bulk density of soil (r) =
volume of soil (cm3)
IMPORTANCE OF SOIL MOISTURE

 Soil moisture serves as a solvent and carrier of food nutrients

for plant growth.
 Yield of crop is more often determined by the amount of water
available rather than the deficiency of other food nutrients.
 Soil moisture acts as a nutrient itself.
 Soil moisture regulates soil temperature.
 Soil forming processes and weathering depend on water.
 Microorganisms require water for their metabolic activities.
 Soil moisture helps in chemical and biological activities of soil.
 It is a principal constituent of the growing plant.
 Water is essential for photosynthesis.