Summer Crops Evapotranspiration for Two Climatically Constrating Regions of Uruguay

Abstract

During the growth and development of grain crops there are a series of limiting factors which prevent obtaining yields to full potential. In particular, in summer crops grown in rain fed conditions, water deficiency stands out as one of the main factors affecting yield productivity. In this study crop evapotranspiration (ETc) was estimated as a way to assess water needs in summer crops and real evapotranspiration (ETr) of rainfed crops that occurs under field conditions. The study consisted in estimating ETc and ETr of soybean GM IV and VI, corn, sorghum and sunflower in two contrasting climatic regions of Uruguay for a period of 24 years (1984/2007) using the model WinISAREG. Water needs varied. The «Niña» and «Niño» years stood out with higher and lower values of ETc respectively. Such water needs are linked to cycle duration. Daily ETc was higher in the North and total ETc was higher in the South. The ETr obtained was substantially lower than ETc and with higher variability in most agro-climatic situations studied. Sunflower and sorghum were the crops that presented the least differences between ETc and ETr, and soybean and corn showed the greatest differences at both locations.