Abstract

Deficit irrigation provides a means of reducing water consumption while minimizing adverse effects on yield. Models can play a major role in developing practical recommendations for optimizing crop production under conditions of scarce water supply. To assess the applicability of the FAO CROPWAT model on deficit irrigation scheduling for groundnut, the study was undertaken using data from the field experiments conducted at Agricultural Research Station, Bhavanisagar, Tamil Nadu during summer 2005 and Rabi 2005-2006. Procedures were developed to calibrate the various crop parameters based on research findings from the experiment. Observed yield reduction and the predicted yield reduction revealed that the moisture stress imposed during flowering and pod formation stages were more sensitive than other stages. From the analysis, it is concluded that the CROPWAT model can effectively simulate yield reduction as a result of moisture stress imposed by deficit irrigation at various growth stages

Keywords: CROPWAT model, deficit irrigation, yield response factor