Plant Water Consumption of SIIRT Pistachio using Blaney Cridlle and Penman - Monteith Methods
Abstract
Pistachio cultivation is carried out in many provinces of Turkey; however, it is mainly concentrated in the southeastern Anatolia Region due to the suitability of the climate. The pistachio is intensively grown in Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman, Mardin and Siirt provinces of southeastern Anatolia, and has a significant impact on the economy of the region. Local varieties are mostly grown in Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa provinces, while Siirt variety is mainly grown in Siirt region. The continental climate of the Siirt province causes the summer to be extremely hot and the precipitation regime to be irregular. Therefore, irrigation in the region along with other cultural practices is important in pistachio cultivation. The increase in population and development of industrialization caused a significant decrease in natural resources; therefore, water resources have to be used as most economical and efficient way as possible. Sustainable use of limited water resources and continuous, high-level benefit from water can only be achieved by determining the amount of crop water consumption in accordance with the climatic conditions, and by creating appropriate irrigation programs considering the crop growing periods. This study was carried out to calculate the crop water consumption for Siirt Pistachio plant using modified Blaney Criddle and modified Penman–Monteith methods.
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Introduction
Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.), which is grown in the Near East, Mediterranean Region, western regions of Asia and United States of America, is mainly grown in Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa provinces of Turkey. The number of provinces where pistachios are grown is 44 which are located in Southeast Anatolia, Mediterranean, Aegean and Central Anatolia Regions of Turkey, however, the highest production takes place in Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, Kilis, Diyarbakır and Siirt provinces. There are many pistachio varieties in Turkey, and Siirt pistachio (Figure 1) has an important share among the varieties grown in Turkey. Domestic varieties are grown mostly in Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa provinces, while Siirt variety adapted to the region is grown in Siirt region. The Siirt pistachios grown in Siirt and Şanlıurfa are preferred because of their large grains and high crack rate. The pistachio is highly drought tolerant plant and can be grown in marginal areas where precipitation is very low (150 mm annual precipitation). However, irrigation water is needed at every stage of agricultural activity and pistachio varieties (Uzun, Siirt, Kırmızı, Halebi, etc.) also need irrigation. Some researchers indicated that water stress may cause low yield and periodicity, which are among the most important problems of pistachio cultivation (Kanber et al., 1993). The reports revealed that irrigation has a positive effect on yield by reducing water stress. In addition, irrigation improved product quality and has the effect of reducing periodicity. Therefore, the irrigation is a prerequisite for optimum yield in pistachio cultivation. Similarly, Arpacı et al. (1995) stated that Siirt pistachio yields better under irrigated conditions than rainfed conditions, and therefore, Siirt pistachio cultivation should be carried out under irrigated conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the crop water consumption of Siirt pistachio by modifying the Siirt province climate data to the Blaney Criddle equation. FIGURE 1: SIIRT Pistachio Orchard
Conclusion
Climatic change, which has emerged as a serious threat due to global warming, leads to the depletion of limited water resources. Water is extensively used in agricultural production; therefore, determining the amount of long or short term plant water consumption realistically depending on the climate data is of great importance for irrigation projects. Therefore, one of the Blaney-Criddle and Penman-Monteith methods, which estimate crop water consumption using meteorological data, can be preferred. An appropriate irrigation program should be established according to the climatic conditions of each region to conserve water resources. For this purpose, the water consumption of crops grown needs be calculated and an irrigation program should be prepared, using the climatic data of the region.
