Determining the deficit coefficient as a function of irrigation depth and distribution uniformity

The present study aimed at the development of the water deficit coefficient as a function of the Christiansen uniformity coefficient and relationship between the applied water depth and that required by a given crop, taking into account that the water distribution by the sprinkler follows a normal distribution. Another objective was to compare the experimental results to those obtained through simulation with the Mantovani model. For this, the water deficit coefficients developed in this work were used, as well as the simplified coefficient that takes into account the water distribution by the sprinkler following a uniform distribution, and finally the development of the production functions for the bean crop by using the Mantovani model. The production values simulated by the model, using the normal deficit coefficient, were always less than those simulated with the uniform deficit coefficient for all uniformity levels and all values of the crop’s maximum evapotranspiration fraction restored by other sources (p). Under the conditions that this study was carried out, the use of the water deficit coefficient based on the normal distribution model did not provide a better performance of the simulation model proposed by Mantovani.