Effects of Subsurface Water Retention Technology on Crop Coefficient and Crop Evapotranspiration of Eggplant

Abstract

In this paper, the effects of subsurface water retention technology (SWRT) on crop coefficient (k_c) and crop evapotranspiration (ET_c) of eggplant were investigated in sandy loam soil. For this purpose, two treatments plot (with SWRT and without using SWRT) were adopted during 93 days of cultivation. The study was conducted in open field within Al-Fahamah Township, Baghdad, Iraq during summer growing season 2017. The accumulated ET_c of eggplant was 403.3 and 515.2 mm for SWRT treatment and control plot, respectively by reduction percentage 21.7 %. The average values of ET_c during the growing season were 4.3 and 5.5 mm/day, respectively. The crop coefficients value during the growing stages for initial, development, mid-season and late season stages was 0.15, 0.41, 0.81 and 0.78 in SWRT treatment plot for the respective stages and for the control plot one 0.2, 0.46, 1.13 and 0.9, respectively.