Association of Agrometeorologists

Computation of vapour pressure deficit and crop transpiration via development of a web based computer module

MAHESH CHAND SINGH, J. P. SINGH, K. G. SINGH, O. P. GUPTA and G. KUMAR

The plant water or nutrient requirement under greenhouse conditions is mainly governed by crop transpiration in a linear relation to vapour pressure deficit (VPD), particularly in soilless production systems. Being a cooling process in plants, transpiration governs the plant water requirement in relation to the subjected microclimatic conditions and VPD can be used as a tool to maintain greenhouse crop transpiration to optimal range for obtaining desired crop yields. Thus, the present investigation was undertaken to study the integrated effect of temperature (Tapc), relative humidity (Eapc) and solar radiation (Irad) on VPD and crop transpiration. A computer module was developed to monitor the behavior of the VPD and thereby the crop transpiration through charts under greenhouse conditions. The VPD indicated a linear increasing trend with Tapc (R2≥0.84) and decreasing trend with Eapc (R2=0.99), demonstrating a strong correlation in both cases. The increasing crop transpiration with VPD, particularly under hot climatic conditions significantly increased the input water and nutrient requirements of the crop. Thus, transpiration in relation to VPD should be considered as a factor for fertigation scheduling and improving irrigation control in soilless systems. Moreover, maintaining Tapc, Eapc and VPD within range of 22-27°C, 60-80% and 0.53-1.10 kPa may help to control the crop transpiration, manage the greenhouse irrigation and fertigation, and thus improve the cucumber yield.
Greenhouse, relative humidity, solar radiation, VPD, transpiration, temperature