Alternative Solution to Estimate Cucumber Crop Evapotranspiration in Shade Nets for the Valle de Culiacán, Mexico

Abstract

Objective: This work aimed to estimate the evapotranspiration of cucumber crop grown in a shade house in Valle de Culiacán, México.

Design/methodology/approach: The FAO56 method was used with a variation of the FAO Penman-Monteith equation, and a non-conventional evaporimeter to measure evaporation inside the shade house. Using the estimated reference evapotranspiration and the measured evaporation, pan coefficients were calculated, and a mathematical model was proposed to calculate this coefficient based on the meteorological parameters: air temperature, relative humidity, and net solar radiation.

Results: The estimated crop evapotranspiration was 417.6 mm. The linear regression between the reference evapotranspiration estimated with FAO56 and calculated with evaporation and adjusted evaporimeter pan coefficient yielded excellent statistical estimators (R²>0.9).

Findings/conclusions: The analysis of the evaporimeter pan coefficient's dependence on meteorological parameters indicates a strong dependence on air temperature, net solar radiation, and vapor pressure deficit, but not on relative humidity.