Abstract:
In this study effort has been made to develop a simple crop model based on water balance for crop monitoring. The main distinctive features of the model are, use of soil moisture at 30 cm depth, decadal water assessment for the wheat crop, an index value in percentage for each decade and for the whole season, which expressed the performance of the crop. The maximum cumulative seasonal index value 100 is apportioned equally into different decade required by the crop to complete its growth. Different stages are evaluated on the basis of water deficit/surplus experienced by the crop. The data used is on the basis of experiments conducted on wheat crop in the premises of the Barani University, Rawalpindi (33No, 73Eo), in research farms. The correlation exhibited between final yield and soil moisture index is about 98%, which is considered to be excellent value. The experiments were conducted from 1999 to 2004. The years 1999-2000, and 2000-2001 were found generally to be dry and growth of the crop faced water stress conditions. No sufficient moisture was available during all decades and drought stress occurred at vegetative, flowering and grain filling stages. This model is useful in rain fed areas and can give significant result.
Page(s):
23-33
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Pakistan Journal of Meterology, Volume: 2, Issue: 3, Year: 2005