Predicting Crop Coefficient Values of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) inside Greenhouse

Abstract

The objective of the study was to predict crop coefficient (K) values for cucumber inside the greenhouse during the growing season 2014, using watermarks gypsum blocks and atmometer c apparatus during the growing stages and to compare the predicted values of the crop coefficient with different methods and approaches. The study was conducted in the greenhouses field within Al-Mahawil Township, 70 km south of Baghdad, Iraq. The watermarks soil water sensors and atmometer apparatus were used to measure crop evapotranspiration and reference evapotranspiration on daily basis, respectively. The comparison and the statistical analysis between the calculated K in this study and values obtained from greenhouse gave a good agreement. The root mean square difference (RMSD) and relative error (RE) gave an average value of: 0.065 mm/day and 9%, respectively. While, the comparison between the predicted K c  values and approaches developed by FAO (modified) and Ministry of Water Resources of Iraq gave less agreement. The values of RMSD and RE gave an average value of: 0.188 mm/day, 27%, and 0.17 mm/day and 26.8%, respectively. The method used by FAO and Ministry of Water Resources of Iraq was conducted on basis of using modified empirical equation suggested by FAO-56.