RAINFALL INSTABILITY AND CROP WATER REQUIREMENT IN THE EFFECTS OF OPTIMUM PLANTING DATES ON GROWTH OF MAIZE IN THE SEMI-DECIDUOUS RAINFOREST OF GHANA
ADAMS SADICK *
Soil Chemistry and Mineralogy Division, CSIR-Soil Research Institute, PMB, Kumasi, Ghana.
ERIC OWUSU ADJEI
Directorate, CSIR-Soil Research Institute, PMB, Kumasi, Ghana.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to estimate crop water requirement of maize and assessment of rainfall instability at Central Agricultural Station, Kwadaso Ghana. This was carried out during 2012 major and minor of the rainfall seasons using CROPWAT model and meteorological data from the station. The results indicated that the irrigation water requirement of maize in the minor season (167.8 mm / season) was more than that of the major season (37.9 mm / season). Furthermore, the optimum planting dates of the maize in the major and minor seasons were March and September respectively.
Keywords: Reference evapotranspiration, crop water requirement, CROPWAT model, maize