It is vital to have an understanding of crop water requirements (CWR) of various crops grown under irrigation especially in arid and semi-arid regions. This will then enable efficient use of water and better irrigation practices like scheduling as the supply of water through rainfall is limited in this areas. The crop water needs of the major crops grown in Machakos County were calculated using the FAO-CROPWAT model using meteorological parameters. This study therefore estimated the crop reference evapotranspiration (ET0), actual evapotranspiration (ETc) and the irrigation requirements of the crops. These included: maize (Zea mays), tomatoes (Cyphomandra betacea)
Download