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Crop yield response to water - Cra

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(8) Tr cc = K cc ET o f ccWhere, f cc is the fraction of the orchard ground surface occupied by the cover crop, and K cc isa cover crop coefficient that varies from 0.25-0.35 for sparse vegetation, <strong>to</strong> 0.4-0.5 for fairlydense, short (less than 10 cm) cover crops, up <strong>to</strong> 0.6-0.8 for dense cover crops.Calculation of tree transpiration TrThe approach here is <strong>to</strong> use a transpiration coefficient (K c,Tr ) which multiplied by the ET o would<strong>yield</strong> the Tr.Tr = K c,Tr ET oThe different crop sections offer information that could be used <strong>to</strong> derive the K c,Tr values;although for many species the information that exists is not sufficiently accurate <strong>to</strong> generalizethe values. There are several fac<strong>to</strong>rs that affect the seasonal K c,Tr values of mature orchards orvineyards well supplied with <strong>water</strong>. In addition <strong>to</strong> the level of intercepted radiation, whetherthe species is deciduous or evergreen, the s<strong>to</strong>matal <strong>response</strong>s <strong>to</strong> the environment, the presenceor absence of fruit, are fac<strong>to</strong>rs that influence the K c,Tr , and even some cultivar differenceswithin a species have been described.The K c,Tr values of mature deciduous orchards vary from nearly zero at bud break <strong>to</strong> a maximumvalue after leaf growth is sufficient <strong>to</strong> intercept all incoming radiation. The maximum value(which varies between 0.75 and 1.0) is maintained throughout the rest of the season until leafsenescence starts, provided the tree is supplied with sufficient <strong>water</strong>. Fruit harvest decreasestemporarily the value of the maximum transpiration coefficient (K c,Trx ), down <strong>to</strong> a level that isspecies dependent, but the K c,Tr usually recovers two <strong>to</strong> three weeks after harvest. Figure 10shows a typical seasonal pattern of the crop coefficient for apple (obtained in a drip-irrigatedlysimeter, thus including the E component of ET c ), and similar information for other crops maybe found in the various specific sections.In the case of evergreen fruit trees, the two major evergreen tree crop species are citrusand olive. Citrus trees have K c,Trx values that depend on air humidity levels; in dry climatesmature orchard K c,Tr values vary within the season between 0.6 and 0.7, while in humid areasit oscillates between 0.7-0.85. Olive K c,Tr values also vary within the season and are affected byclimatic conditions. In temperate, semi-arid climates, it has a minimum of about 0.4 in spring,about 0.5 in the summer and may reach 0.6-0.65 in the autumn. A model <strong>to</strong> compute K c,Tr andTr for olive trees has been developed (Testi et al., 2006 and Orgaz et al., 2006), and is brieflydescribed in Box 5. Similar models are now being developed for other fruit tree species andwill be available soon.262crop <strong>yield</strong> <strong>response</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>water</strong>

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