| Abstract: | Since plant water deficits are extremely hard to predict from either soil moisture or atmospheric demands, direct measurements on the plants are evaluated as indicators of moisture stress in crops. The plant measurements made were leaf-water potential, leaf-diffusion resistance, and leaf temperature. This paper concerns the evaluation of these measurements and how they may be used in irrigation scheduling. Experiments were conducted using southern peas as a crop in a sheltered lysimeter installation that provided control of soil moisture by eliminating all of the rainfall. The atmospheric demand was characterized by measurements of net radiation, air temperature, dew point temperature and wind movement. Daily measurements of soil moisture were made in order to quantitatively evaluate the soil water status. Also, the treatments were irrigated periodically based on tensiometer readings. ... |
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