Abstract
A 4-year experiment was conducted using a large weighing lysimeter to determine the crop coefficient and crop water use of a late-season peach cultivar (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, cultivar O'Henry) irrigated with a surface drip system. Two trees were planted in a 2×4×2 m deep weighing lysimeter that was surface irrigated with ten 2 L/h in-line drip emitters spaced evenly around the trees. Irrigation was applied in 12 mm applications after a 12 mm water loss threshold was exceeded as measured by the lysimeter. The crop coefficient (K c) was calculated using the measured water losses and grass reference evapotranspiration calculated using the CIMIS Penman equation. K c was plotted against day of the year and linear, quadratic, and cubic regressions were fitted to the data. A three-segment linear and the cubic equation had the best fit to the data. The maximum K c determined for the linear fit in this experiment was 1.06 compared with a maximum of 0.92 recommended for use in California and 0.98 calculated using the FAO method. Average annual water use for the 4 years of the experiment was 1,034 mm. Mid-day canopy light interception was found to be well correlated with the crop coefficient determined using the lysimeter data.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Dr. Rick Snyder for his analysis of the data and development of the linear model and Dr. Bruce Mackey for his statistical analysis of the data and the development of the cubic and quadratic expressions. Thanks also go to Dr. Rick Allen for his review and comments and the development of the FAO 56 model. Product names are given for the benefit of the reader and do not imply endorsement by USDA-ARS.
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Communicated by P. Thorburn
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Ayars, J.E., Johnson, R.S., Phene, C.J. et al. Water use by drip-irrigated late-season peaches. Irrig Sci 22, 187–194 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-003-0084-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-003-0084-4