Crop water production functions for 14 crops in south of Havana conditions

Abstract

The study of the crop water production functions for planning water use is an important approach for making crop management strategies to increase yield. Using a data base in more than 100 field experiments carried out fundamentally in Red Ferralitic soils of south of Havana province, and regression tools, it was estimated the crop water production functions for 14 crops. A lineal tendency was obtained for bean, sorghum, garlic, onion, sweet potato, taro and pineapple. For the cultivations soybean, pepper, tomato, potato, banana and plantains this relationship is explained better through quadratic functions. For corn it was found a combination of linear functions with a breaking point in 185 mm of applied water as a best option for describes the irrigation water response. The developed functions can be used as a tool for taking decision in limited irrigation water conditions.