Determination of crop coefficients and optimum irrigation schedules for bidi tobacco and pearl millet crops in central Gujarat

Abstract

An attempt was made to determine the rate of ETc and crop coefficients during various growth stages of bidi tobacco and pearl millet crops in central Gujarat by water balance approach. From the crop coefficients and meteorological data, optimum irrigation schedules with furrow and drip irrigations were developed. The duration of various growth stages of bidi tobacco crop identified as 30, 40, 50, 30 days for initial, development, mid season and late season respectively. The crop coefficients for these periods Kc initial, Kc mid, Kc end were found to be 0.42, 0.85 and 0.44 all in respective order. Similarly for the pearl millet crop identified as 15, 25, 30, 15 days for initial, establishment, maturity and late season respectively. The crop coefficients for these periods Kc initial, Kc mid, Kc end were found to be 0.33, 0.73 and 0.42 respectively. The identified duration of crop growth stages and respective derived crop coefficients for various growth stages of bidi tobacco and pearl millet crops will be useful to estimate crop water requirements and further developing optimum irrigation schedules for achieving higher water productivity.