H. Modabberi, M. Mirlatifi, M. A. Gholami,
Volume 18, Issue 67 (Spring 2014)
Abstract
Since more than 75% of the rice fields in Iran are located in the Northern provinces i.e. Mazandaran, Guilan, and
Golestan identifying the crop water requirement of rice fields is essential for water resources planning in the Northern
provinces. The objective of this research was to ascertain the crop water requirement of two rice cultivars namely
Hashemi and Khazar in Guilan province during 1389 growing season. Four iron barrels with diameter of 56 cm were
used as lysimeters to grow the cultivars mentioned. According to a simple volume balance approach the crop water use
of the four lysimeters were determined during the growing season. The elements of volume balance approach such as
the depths of drainage, precipitation, and irrigation were recorded daily and the average of 5-day and 10-day periods
were reported. The daily rice crop water use during the growing season was found to range from 2.4 to 6.3 mm/day with
a seasonal crop water use ranging from 430 to 470 mm for Hashemi and Khazar cultivars, respectively. Daily reference
evapotranspiration was computed by the FAO-Penman-Montith equation and accordingly rice crop coefficients were
computed. The crop coefficient of Hashemi variety was found to be 1.1, 1.3, and 1.1 during the initial, mid, and end
growth stages, respectively. In addition, the aforementioned parameters for Khazar variety were 1.2, 1.3, and 1.1.
