Assessing Crop Water Stress and Irrigation Scheduling in Cotton Through Use of Infrared Thermometry Technique

Authors: Berkant ÖDEMİŞ, Ruhi BAŞTUG

Abstract: Crop Water Strees Index (CWSI), based on canopy temperature which can be measured through use of an infrared thermometer, can be used to quantify crop water stress. However, the use of this index on farm level, require field tests for different crops. This study was carried out to evaluate the usage of CWSI for irrigation scheduling and predicting lint cotton yield under Antalya conditions. Soil water contents for different irrigation treatments were measured weekly and before each irrigation during the growing season. During the experiment, crop canopy temperature, dry and wet bulb temperatures and other climatic measurements were taken three days per week and five times per day between 1100 and 1400 hours. The CWSI values were determined by using the emprical approach. The results of this study indicated that the CWSI values could be useful to determine irrigation time, and for this purpose a CWSI=0.45 could be used as a criterion. A linear correlation existed between mean seasonal CWSI and cotton lint yield can be used for yield predictions.

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