EVAPOTRANSPIRATION AND CROP COEFFICIENTS OF GRAIN LEGUMES IN SEMI- DESERT CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

Crop evapotranspiration (ETc) is a very important parameter in irrigation management. It can be either directly measured using water balance approach or estimated. A field experiment was carried out at Hudeiba Research Station farm in Sudan to determine crop evapotranspiration (ETc) and coefficients (kc) for faba bean (Vicia faba L.), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). The total ETc values of faba bean, chickpea and common bean were 403, 337 and 280 mm, respectively, with maximum daily values of 5.4, 4.9 and 4.7 mm day-1. The estimated crop coefficients during the initial, mid-season and late -season stages for faba bean were 0.33, 1.22 and 0.60, respectively. The corresponding values for chickpea were 0.26, 1.08 and 0.52, respectively; and for common bean, 0.20, 1.07 and 0.52.