Determining Irrigation Requirements for Vegetables and Sugarcane in Jamaica

Abstract

Currently, only 10% of the cultivated lands in Jamaica are irrigated, and as a result farmers are highly dependent on seasonal rainfall. For this reason, a study was undertaken in order to determine monthly irrigation requirements for three study sites, for both vegetables and sugarcane. A proper scientific methodology was applied to achieve this information on crop water requirements in Jamaica for the first time. In addition, the cumulative frequencies of monthly and seasonal rainfall depths were analyzed, and this information used to develop monthly rainfall values, as well as seasonal rainfall values for different return periods for the sites. Each study site was found to be unique in its irrigation requirements, which highlights the climatic and soil variability across the island. However, all three sites were similar in their need for irrigation during the months of March and April for vegetables, signifying that this is a universally dry period across the island. This information is meant to provide a foundation for irrigation planning and water management strategies during water‐scarce conditions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Response of bean cultures’ water use efficiency against climate warming in semiarid regions of China

“…In view of plant physiology, the change of plant water use efficiency in drought is caused by stomatal restrictive factors and non-stomatal restrictive factors. Stomatal restriction was realized by the regulation of leaf air bores protecting the cell movement, when the plant is under a light or medium moisture threat, air bores will be more sensitive to drought, the net photosynthesis is non-linear to the stomatal conductance which decreases before the decrease of net photosynthesis, and thus the transpiration is decreased, the water use efficiency is improved ( Picotte et al, 2007 , Richards et al, 2014 ). Effective moisture in arid and semiarid regions is the most important factor for controlling the plant function, and the decrease of effective moisture will aggravate the plant physiological threat and weakness.…”