Planta Med 2010; 76 - P157
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1264455

Evaluation of the efficiency of CROPWAT model for determining water requirement of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) in arid regions

A Ahmadian 1, A Ghanbari 1, A Tavassoli 2
  • 1Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, Faculty of Technology and Engineering Torbat-e Heydarieh, Iran, Islamic Republic Of
  • 2Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zabol Zabol, Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Shortage of water resources and increasing demand to consumption of this scarce resource, leads to some noticeable limitations. On the other hand, population growth and consequently, increasing demand for water in arid and semi arid regions, needs production in exchange of little amount of water consumption. To approach this objective, an experiment in the complete randomized blocks carried out in four replications for cumin plant growing in Zabol, southeastern Iran. Experimental treatments included irrigation periods at three levels. Then using CROPWAT model, the water requirement of the plant is met. Analyzing the data resulted from production gathered in different times of irrigation and consumption of water in the three times irrigation case with sound efficiency (1750 m3/ha), is more little than the water amount which is simulated by the CROPWAT model in 2003 (6070 m3/ha) and (5363 m3/ha) in 2004. It then showed that this model is not effective in determining the water requirement of cumin at this region. Keywords: Water requirement; Cumin; CROPWAT model; Efficiency; Simulation