Water Management in Horticultural Crops

Estimation of water requirement for horticultural crops

Annuals and biennials

• The vegetable crops are mostly annuals and their duration extends from two to five months or a single season.
  
• Some may be biennial and the season may get extended.
  
• The vegetable crops are sensitive to water stress.
  
• The water requirement is normally expressed for the entire period of the crop in the field.
  
• The crop water requirements are worked out for this period.
  
• The requirement could be estimated by all the methods.
Perennial

• Fruit crops are mostly perennials.
  
• When an orchard is first established, transpiration is very low because of the small crop canopy.
  
• Most water lost from the soil is by evapotranspiration from among the trees.
  
• With the increase in years the trees grow and a large canopy is established.
  
• The water is expressed for one year or daily basis.
  
• The water requirement of perennial crop through lysimeter is not a practical proposition. Hence other methods may be used to assess the water requirements.