Res. Agr. Eng., 2025, 71(4):200-212 | DOI: 10.17221/31/2025-RAE

Optimisation of the irrigation requirement of okra under protected cultivation using a digital lysimeterOriginal Paper

Sujitha Elango ORCID...1, Nagarajan Madasamy ORCID...1, Valliammai Annamalai ORCID...1, Vijayaprabhakar Arumugam ORCID...2
1 Department of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, TNAU, Kumulur, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Institute of Agriculture, TNAU, Kumulur, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India

A field experiment was conducted in 2023 and 2024 to determine stage-specific crop coefficient values of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) using the popular F1 hybrid Arka Nikita. Six evapotranspiration (ETc) based treatments were applied: five under a forced ventilated greenhouse (T1 = 120% ETc, T2 = 100% ETc, T3 = 80% ETc, T4 = 60% ETc, T5 = 100% ETc in lysimeter) and one under open field (T6 = 100% ETc) arranged in a completely randomised block design with three replications. The results showed that T2 had higher growth parameters, while T4 and T6 performed poorly. The yield was significantly higher in T2 (23.8 t/ha in 2023 and 23.3 t/ha in 2024), whereas T6 had a lower yield (9.5 t/ha in 2023 and 8.6 t/ha in 2024). Higher water productivity was observed in T3 (9.85 kg/m3 in 2023 and 8.35 kg/m3 in 2024), while T6 had lower water productivity (1.83 kg/m3 in 2023 and 1.35 kg/m3 in 2024). Hence, this study recommends using stage-specific crop coefficients of 0.32, 0.63, 0.78, and 0.41 during the initial, development, mid and final stages of 80% ETc to optimise the water productivity and maximise the yield in the greenhouse-grown okra, respectively.

Keywords: lysimeter; precision agriculture; soil moisture sensor; water use efficiency

Received: March 20, 2025; Accepted: August 8, 2025; Prepublished online: December 15, 2025; Published: December 16, 2025  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Elango S, Madasamy N, Annamalai V, Arumugam V. Optimisation of the irrigation requirement of okra under protected cultivation using a digital lysimeter. Res. Agr. Eng. 2025;71(4):200-212. doi: 10.17221/31/2025-RAE.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Ahmet K., Ali U. (2009): Growth, yield, and water use of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) and eggplant (Solanum melongena) are influenced by rooting volume. New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science, 37: 201-210. Go to original source...
    2. Ali N., Dong Y., Lavely E. (2024): Impact of irrigation scheduling on yield and water use efficiency of apples, peaches, and sweet cherries: A global meta-analysis. Agricultural Water Management, 306: 109148. Go to original source...
    3. Awang Bono I.A., Kastaman R., Suryadi E., Rubiyanti Y. (2024): A study of irrigation management in smart farming and IoT for greenhouse tomato production. Journal of Electrical Systems, 20: 2616-2630. Go to original source...
    4. Awari H.W., Ingle V.K., Khodke U.M., Balore K.A. (2023): Determination of crop coefficient of okra crop using lysimeter for semi-arid climatic condition of Parbhani, Maharashtra. Journal of Agricultural Engineering (India), 60: 311-319. Go to original source...
    5. Buttaro D., Santamaria P., Signore A., Cantore V., Boari F., Montesano F.F., Parente A. (2015): Irrigation management of greenhouse tomato and cucumber using tensiometer: Effects on yield, quality and water use. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia, 4: 440-444. Go to original source...
    6. de Mendiburu F. (2019): Agricolae: Statistical procedures for agricultural research. R package version 1.3.
    7. Elings A. (2000): Estimation of leaf area in tropical maize. Agronomy Journal, 92: 436-444. Go to original source...
    8. El-Naggar A.G., Hedley C.B., Horne D., Roudier P., Clothier B.E. (2020): Soil sensing technology improves the application of irrigation water. Agricultural Water Management, 228: 105901. Go to original source...
    9. Geerts S., Raes D. (2009): Deficit irrigation as an on-farm strategy to maximize crop water productivity in dry areas. Agricultural Water Management, 96: 1275-1284. Go to original source...
    10. Ghiat I., Mackey H.R., Al-Ansari T. (2021): A review of evapotranspiration measurements models, techniques, and methods for open and closed agriculture. Water, 13: 2523. Go to original source...
    11. Graamans L., Baeza E., van den Dobbelsteen A., Tsafaras I., Stanghellini C. (2018): Plant factories versus greenhouses: Comparison of resource use efficiency. Agricultural Systems, 160: 31-43. Go to original source...
    12. Hashemi S.Z., DarzNaftchali A., Karandish F., Ritzema H., Solaimani K. (2024): Enhancing agricultural sustainability with water and crop management strategies in modern irrigation and drainage networks. Agricultural Water Management, 305: 109110. Go to original source...
    13. Imrana Farhan I., Sugirtharan M. (2023): Effect of surface and drip irrigation on growth, yield and water use efficiency of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) - A review. Advances in Technology, 3: 1-19.
    14. Jayapiratha V., Thushyanthy M., Sivakumar S. (2010): Performance evaluation of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) under drip irrigation system. Asian Journal of Agricultural Research, 4: 139-147. Go to original source...
    15. Kohima N., Samnotra R.K., Kumar S. (2023): Influence of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) genotypes on growth, yield, and biochemical traits. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 93: 57-61. Go to original source...
    16. Kumari A., Upadhyaya A., Jeet P., Al-Ansari N., Rajput J., Sundaram P.K., Saurabh K., Prakash V., Singh A.K., Raman R.K., Gaddikeri V., Kuriqi A. (2022): Estimation of actual evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of transplanted puddled rice using a modified non-weighing paddy lysimeter. Agronomy, 12: 2850. Go to original source...
    17. Mandal K.G., Thakur A.K., Mohanty S. (2018): Planting techniques and irrigation influenced crop growth, light interception, and yield-evapotranspiration relationship of potatoes. International Journal of Plant Production, 12: 285-296. Go to original source...
    18. Möhring N., Kanter D., Aziz T., Castro I.B., Maggi F., Schulte-Uebbing L., Seufert V., Tang F.H.M., Zhang X., Leadley P. (2023): Successful implementation of global targets to reduce nutrient and pesticide pollution requires suitable indicators. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 7: 1556-1559. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    19. Moursy M.A.M., Abdel Kareem Nessrien S., Mustafa E.F., Elfetyany M. (2023): Assessing the application of modern irrigation systems under greenhouse and open field conditions on the productivity of different crops (eggplants case). Alexandria Engineering Journal, 77: 435-442. Go to original source...
    20. Patil C.S. (2010): Crop coefficient and water requirement of okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus L. Moench). Mausam, 61: 121-124. Go to original source...
    21. Shi W., Zhang X., Xue X., Feng F., Zheng W., Chen L. (2023): Analyzing evapotranspiration in greenhouses: A lysimeter-based calculation and evaluation approach. Agronomy, 13: 3059. Go to original source...
    22. Subedi A., Chávez J.L., Andales A.A. (2017): ASCE-EWRI Standardized Penman-Monteith evapotranspiration (ET) equation performance in southeastern Colorado. Agricultural Water Management, 179: 74-80. Go to original source...
    23. Tayyaba S., Ahmad M., Baig M.T., Kanwal S., Nazir M.Z., Sidra-Tul-Muntaha (2022): Remote sensing in precision agriculture for irrigation management. Environmental Sciences Proceedings - The 1st International Precision Agriculture Pakistan Conference 2022 (PAPC 2022) - Change the Culture of Agriculture, 23: 31. Go to original source...
    24. Tiwari K.N., Mal P.K., Singh R.M., Chattopadhyay A. (1998): Response of okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench.] to drip irrigation under mulch and non-mulch conditions. Agricultural Water Management, 38: 91-102. Go to original source...
    25. Yang P., Wu L., Cheng M., Fan J., Li S., Wang H., Qian L. (2023): Review on drip irrigation: Impact on crop yield, quality, and water productivity in China. Water, 15: 1-18. Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content