Seasonal variations of transpiration efficiency coefficient of irrigated wheat
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Global diminishing water resources, especially due to climate change have serious impacts on evaporation (E)
from the soil surface, transpiration (T) from plants (crops) and grain yield, which relates to water use efficiency of
different crops. A study was conducted at Kenilworth over two wheat cropping seasons (2007 and 2008) with the
objectives of: (i) evaluating the effect of soils and seasons on T, E and yield, and (ii) relating these parameters to
transpiration efficiency coefficient. The treatments included two soil types and two soil surface treatments (bare
and mulched), which were all replicated four times. Weekly irrigation was done using a surface drip system while
maintaining the water table at a constant depth. Soil water content was monitored using a neutron probe. Neither
soils nor seasons were found to significantly influence the partitioning of evapotranspiration (ET), and T varied
from 74 to 76% of ET while E varied between 24 and 26%. Surface treatments caused significant differences in
grain yield in both seasons. Reducing evaporative loss improves the water productivity of wheat, which has an
important implication in dryland farming.
Description
Keywords
Evaporation, Transpiration, Water use efficiency, Climate change, Wheat
Citation
Tfwala, C. M. et al. (2021). Seasonal variations of transpiration efficiency coefficient of irrigated wheat. Heliyon, 7(2), e06233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06233