Lysimeter Study of Crop Evapotranspiration of African Spinach in Nsukka, Southeast Nigeria
Volume 1, Issue1 (12 - 2022)
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Abstract
A drainage lysimeter of 2m surface area with a depth of 1m was used to estimate the crop evapotranspiration of African spinach (Amaranthus Cruentus) in Nsukka southeastern Nigeria between mid February and mid March 2011. The crop was irrigated daily using a watering ca, and the lysimeter was instrumented to monitor rainfall, drainage, and soil moisture. The daily data generated were used to evaluate crop evapotranspiration (Etc) from the water balance equation. The crop evapotranspiration determined from the lysimeter for African spinach was 185.37mm, for the period with an average daily crop evapotranspiration of 5.98 mm/day. This compares favourably with the FAO Penman Monteith method which gave an average daily ETc of 6.08 mm/day for the same period.