Water consumption by lucerne in central Australia

Abstract

Observations on the loss of water from soil under irrigated lucerne have been made over a 12 month period at Alice Springs. The relationship between this water loss and tank evaporation has been determined and used to calculate mean monthly requirements of lucerne in this environment. The mean annual requirement is 90 in. Data are also presented showing the rate of water loss at different soil water contents, growth stages of the crop, and soil depths.