2024, Vol. 7, Issue 12, Part H

author(s)
AS Palve, DD Khedkar, NJ Danawale, MS Mane, KD Kale, VS Patil, and SK Ghodke

abstract
Crop water requirement (CWR) is a critical factor in crop production and is significantly influenced by climate change. This study was conducted in the Western Maharashtra agro-climatic region, which encompasses nine districts: Dhule, Jalgaon, Niphad, Pune, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Sangli, Satara, and Kolhapur. The research aimed to estimate CWR using the FAO 56 Penman-Monteith method. Long-term weekly meteorological data (1980-2022) were obtained from the Indian Meteorological Department in Pune. The crop coefficient (Kc) equation developed for the Rahuri region was applied in conjunction with ET₀ to estimate CWR, except for okra, for which values were directly used. CWR for all stations was calculated under the assumption that Kc values are applicable across different locations and time periods. The study focused on commonly grown summer crops, including watermelon, cucumber, brinjal, and okra. In the present study, assessment of crop water requirement is carried out for four crops viz., watermelon, cucumber, brinjal, and okra over study area. The water requirement was estimated for 43 years during 1980-2022 for Jalgaon, Dhule, Niphad, Pune, Rahuri and Solapur stations, while 33 year during 1990 -2021 for Padegaon and Kolhapur station and 28 years during 1995-2022 for Kasbe Digraj station as per the availability of data. Throughout the study area the result showed that there was variation in crop water requirement. The variation in crop water requirement for watermelon, cucumber, brinjal and okra for all station was observed.