The dependency of the crop coefficient of the initial stage of crop development (Kc ini) upon applied irrigation water depth was analyzed for three different soil textures. Nine depths of irrigation water (5, 10,15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50 and 60 mm) were studied. The Ritchie’s model was carried out to estimate the direct soil water evaporation for different patterns of soil wetness. The Kc ini values were obtained for the different soil textures, and for each soil wetness condition, to analyse the dependency of the Kc ini on the applied irrigation water depth. It was observed that the dependency Kc ini was directly proportional to the amount of irrigation water applied. However, it was also observed that the Kc ini values did not increase when the irrigation water applied was not enough to bring the soil moisture condition to phase 1 of direct soil water evaporation in the Ritchie model for the soils of three different textures.
crop coefficient; initial stage; irrigation interval; water depth
