1Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad – 500 059, Andhra Pradesh, India
2Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi – 835 215. Jharkhand, India
3NABARD, Hyderabad – 500 018, Andhra Pradesh, India
4Department of Agricultural Engineering, Andhra Pradesh Horticultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad – 500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India
*Corresponding author: Email: rnagarjunakumar@yahoo.com
Online published on 7 April, 2014.
Increasing evidence over the past few decades indicates that the global surface temperature is on the rise due to increasing concentration of green house gases. The increase in earth surface temperature is expected to affect reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo) and consequently the crop water requirements. In the present study, hypothetical increase of surface temperature by 1°C, 2°C, 3°C and 4°C was assumed and their impact on ETo was studied in a semi-arid area. Application of Hargreaves model for estimating ETo in the study area was tested. Results on simulation indicated that 2.5, 5, 7 and 9 per cent increase in the mean (monthly) and annual ETo values. The increase in the present temperature was by 1°C, 2°C, 3°C and 4°C in the study area. The impact of the projected increase of ETo under stressed water stressed resources is considered of significance in the semi-arid region
Reference crop evapotranspiration, Hargreaves, climate change, temperature
