Comparative analysis of evapotranspiration and water demand for coffee farms in the upper Santa Maria River

Keywords: Evapotranspiration of the reference crop, evapotranspiration of the crop, coffee, irrigation need and Landsat satellite images
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 39

Abstract

Coffe is the main production system that guarantees food security in the upper Santa María river basin. In order to optimize crop yield, farmers need to improve production systems that allows the optimal water use throughout the year. Evapotranspiration is a key factor to understand the water needs of a crop and is used as an indicator for decisions on conservation practices or irrigation systems. In this research, evapotranspiration of the referencecrop (ETo) was calculated using the Penman-Monteith method and Landsat satellite images. Coffee evapotranspiration at field level was analyzed and compared to calculate the water demand in three farms located in the district of Santa Fe. For this, the ETo then the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) was obtained and finally the water demand was estimated.

The ETo was obtained using the CROPWAT software, with data from two meteorological stations (ETESA and Tempest) and satellite images from the METRIC EEFLUX model processed in ArcGIS Pro. The comparison of both data presented a coefficient of determination of 0.38. In calculating the irrigation requirements of the coffee plant, InfoStat was used for statistical analysis with data from the ETESA station at a probability of occurrence of 90% of ETo and precipitation, where lower values were found in December and higher in March (0.48 and 0.71 l / s / ha). These results suggest that in order to establish coffee cultivation in the dry season it will be necessary to irrigate the crops since effective precipitation is not enough to supply crop water requirements.