Determination of canola water requirement using lysimeter in Haji Abad Region of Hormozgan

Canola oil is one of the healthiest edible oil for human consumption and has gained public attention in providing edible oil in Iran. Therefore, growers are increasingly being interested in the cultivation of canola in various parts of Iran such as Haji Abad in Hormozgan province. However, there is no reliable data on water requirement of canola in this area. Therefore, a four-year experiment was conducted at Haji Abad research station for agriculture to determine crop water requirement of canola. In the first year of the experiment, a lysimeter was installed in the center of a 4-ha ground area. Then, in the next three years, canola (Hayula-401 var.) was cultivated in and around the lysimeter and its water requirement was measured weekly over the entire growing season. Results showed that under optimal growth conditions met in this research, canola needed 526.55 mm water to produce 2950 kg ha-1 grain which should be provided according to its daily water requirement over the growing season. Daily water requirement of canola varied from1.66 mm day-1 at rosette stage to nearly 6.5 mm day-1 during pod and seed development stages. Of the total canola water requirement, about 20 mm used for seed germination, 30 mm during rosette stage, 63 mm from early stem elongation to flower initiation, 110 mm during flowering, and 235 mm during pod formation and grain filling periods.