Determination of crop-coefficients and estimation of evapotranspiration of rapeseed using lysimeter and different reference evapotranspiration models

Accurate estimation of evapotranspiration of rapeseed is essentially required for irrigation scheduling and water management. The present study was undertaken during 2015-16 and 2017-18 in ICR Farm, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat to determine the crop coefficients (Kc) and estimate evapotranspiration of rapeseed using lysimeter and eight reference evapotranspiration models viz. Penman-Monteith, Advection-Aridity (Bruitsaert-Strickler), Granger-Gray, Makkink, Blaney-Criddle, Turc (1961), Hargreaves-Somani and Priestly-Tailor models. During 2015-16, the crop coefficients were developed by these models. Actual evapotranspiration was determined by three weighing type lysimeters. During 2017-18, evapotranspiration was estimated by multiplying reference evapotranspiration with Kc derived by different models and compared with actual evapotranspiration estimated by lysimeter during similar growing periods. All the models except Turc (1961) showed less than 10% deviation between actual and estimated ET. The estimated evapotranspiration using Penman-Monteith and Priestly-Tailor reference evapotranspiration recorded the lowest MAE and RMSE. The study revealed that estimated evapotranspiration using Penman-Monteith reference evapotranspiration gave the best estimate of evapotranspiration of rapeseed followed by Priestly-Tailor. The crop coefficients for initial, mid and end stages were 0.83, 1.20 and 0.65, respectively for Penman-Monteith and 0.70, 1.05 and 0.55, respectively for Priestly-Tailor.These results can be used for efficient management of irrigation water for rapeseed.