Assessing crop coefficients for Zea mays in the semi-arid Hailiutu River catchment, northwest China

Lizhu Hou, Jochen Wenninger, Jiangen Shen, Yangxiao Zhou, Han Bao and Haijun Liu

Agricultural Water Management, 2014, vol. 140, issue C, 37-47

Abstract: To improve irrigation water-use efficiency, plant transpiration and soil evaporation in a maize (Zea mays L.) field in the Bulang sub-catchment of the Hailiutu River catchment in Northwest China were determined using in situ measurements. Crop transpiration (Tp) rates from Jul 15 to Oct 1, 2011 were measured with sap flow sensors, and soil evaporation (Ep) rates were measured with micro-lysimeters under an absence of water deficit. The two rates together gave the total evapotranspiration (ETc) of the maize field. Cumulative Tp and Ep were 245 and 85mm, accounting for 74 and 26% of total ETc (330mm), respectively. To calculate the total ETc rate of the maize field for the entire growing season, the Penman–Monteith equation combined with a single crop coefficient method (FAO-56) was used. The estimated crop coefficient (Kc) was calibrated using actual sap flow and soil evaporation data to provide accurate estimates of actual evapotranspiration. The total crop ETc of the maize field for the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons was 583 and 500mm, respectively, with a mean daily value of ∼4mmd−1. Groundwater contributed 33% of the maize ETc in 2011 (average groundwater table of 1.12m with full irrigation) and 27% in 2012 (average groundwater table of 0.89m with full irrigation). These results will improve precise planning and efficient management of irrigation for maize in this region.

Keywords: Maize (Zea mays L.); Evapotranspiration; Sap flow; Penman–Monteith equation; Crop coefficient; Hailiutu River catchment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377414000882
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:140:y:2014:i:c:p:37-47

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2014.03.016

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural Water Management is currently edited by B.E. Clothier, W. Dierickx, J. Oster and D. Wichelns

More articles in Agricultural Water Management from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().