Academic Research Journal of Agricultural Science and Research
 

Academic Research Journal of Agricultural Science and Research 

Vol. 5(5), pp. 336-340. September, 2017.

ISSN: 2360-7874 

 DOI: 10.14662/ARJASR2017.039

Full Length Research

Crop Coefficient and Water Requirement of Tomato (Melka Shola Variety) at Melkassa, Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Gobena Dirirsa¹, Tilahun Hordofa¹and Daniel Bekele¹

¹Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Melkassa Agricultural Research Center, Post Box: 436, Adama, Ethiopia. *Corresponding author's email: dirirsagobe@gmail.com

Accepted 14 August 2017

Improved water management through precise crop water requirement determination is needed to improve water productivity in agricultural production. As a result, appropriate irrigation scheduling which can lead to water saving, improvements in the yield and income can be designed. In this study, non-weighing type lysimeters were used to determine water requirement (ETc) and crop coefficient (Kc) of Tomato (Melka Shola cultivar). Reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo) was determined using weather data of the site computing with modified Penman Monteith method. The measured average stage-wise ETc values were 43.53 mm, 112.50 mm, 270.63 mm, and 124.98 mm during the initial, development, mid-season and late season growth stages, respectively. The average crop coefficient (Kc) values, calculated as ratio of Etc to ETo, were 0.57, 0.86, 1.13 and 0.88 for the initial stage, developmental stage, mid-season stage and of late season stages, respectively. The crop coefficient value at the end of the late season stages was found to be 0.63.The length of each of the growth stages of initial, development, mid-season and late-season were 14, 25, 36 and 29 days, respectively. The water requirement and crop coefficient values determined in this study will help to accurately plan and manage the water resources in production of tomato.

Keywords: crop coefficient, crop water requirement, evapotranspiration, lysimeter, tomato

How to cite this article: Dirirsa G, Bekele D, Hordofa T (2017). Crop Coefficient and Water Requirement of Tomato (Melka Shola Variety) at Melkassa, Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Acad. Res. J. Agri. Sci. Res. 5(5): 336-340

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