Water Management in Horticultural Crops

Determination of critical periods of water need

• It assumes importance to use irrigation water judiciously when water supply is limiting.
  
• For this purpose, a crop is subjected to pre-determined water stress at different stages of growth and then the corresponding yield reductions are considered.
  
• It is then related to the crop that has not been subjected to any water stress and irrigated according the normal schedule.
  
• Another way to decide the critical periods is to miss irrigation at different stages of the crop and then relating the corresponding the yield reductions with the yield from control plot which is irrigated normally.
  
• Periods at which yield reductions are significant are considered as the critical periods of water need in the life of the crop.