Abstract

KELSO-BUCIO, Henry A.; BA, Khalidou M.; SANCHEZ-MORALES, Saúl  and  REYES-LOPEZ, Delfino. In situ Estimation of Kc_ini in vanilla (Vanilla planifolia A). Agrociencia [online]. 2012, vol.46, n.5, pp.499-506. ISSN 2521-9766.

The crop development coefficient of vanilla (Vanilla planifolia A.) should be known for the estimation of the water requirements of the species. The objective of the present study was to calculate the crop development coefficient in its initial development phase (Kc_ini). For its estimation real evapotranspiration (ETr) and reference evapotranspiration (ETo) were measured. ETr was determined with a balance lysimeter and ETo with the Penman Monteith method, using the information of the agro-climatological station of the Ixtacuaco Experimental Field of the National Network of Modeling and Remote Sensors (LNMySR) Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP). Sowing density was two plants m^-2, the plants were placed in a traditional spiral fashion in the tutor. A water requirement of 192 mm and Kc_ini of 0.35 was calculated for the first 200 d after sowing (DAS), or the initial crop development phase. This study contributed to the improvement of the estimation of water requirements, experimentally determined, for the first time in situ, in the region of origin of vanilla, by means of a balance lysimeter.

Keywords : crop development coefficient; reference evapotranspiration; real evapotranspiration; Vanilla planifolia A.