Determination of Water Productivity and Greenhouse Cucumber Water Requirement in Qazvin

Greenhouses have a key role in agriculture productions. Given the ability of controlling production factors, there is the possibility of out-of-season cultivation in greenhouses, which is important in terms of food security, economics, and agricultural marketing. Estimation of water requirement for planning the development of greenhouses and their operation is very important. Awareness of the exact amount of water requirement is important both in terms of production and growth. Many studies have shown the usefulness of greenhouses in improving yield, physical and economical productivity. So far, comprehensive studies have not been carried out on the productivity of greenhouse cucumber cultivation and its effects on water resources in Qazvin province. Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine the greenhouse cucumber water requirement and provide a model for estimating evapotranspiration of cucumber under greenhouse condition. Also, determining greenhouse cucumber productivity in Qazvin province and evaluating the effect of this improvement on water resources were other objectives.

This research was carried out in a greenhouse near Qazvin city. The height of the greenhouse from the ground was 4 meters, and its plastic cover was made of polyethylene. Experiments were carried out in greenhouse with greenhouse seedling on 20-3-2015 in two rows of pot. The greenhouse was equipped with the necessary tools to measure temperature, maximum and minimum temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation. Soil texture in this research was clay loam with 30, 32 and 38 percent of sand, silt and clay, respectively. The water content was, , 31% and 16 percent at field capacity (FC) and permanent wiling point (PWP) respectively. An irrigation interval of two days (a favorable condition) was considered. In this experiment, the seeds of the Royal cucumber were used to coincide with the planting time and harvesting length. The plastic pots with a diameter of 18 cm and a height of 23 cm were utilized. The pots were filled with equal quantities of fine and fine gravel (for drainage) and then with the agricultural soil prepared for cucumber cultivation. In order to provide conditions similar to the actual cucumber planting in the flower bed, the pots were placed close to the greenhouse. The irrigation of the plants was carried out manually for 83 days. The relative humidity, temperature and radiation were measured hourly. Further, the effects of irrigation on different characteristics of the test plants were observed and recorded. The moisture content was measured by weight and soil moisture reduction in full irrigation was compensated for the FC moisture content in each irrigation interval. Until 30 days after planting (Stages 4-6), the pots were irrigated with equal amounts. In order to evaluate the effects of deficit irrigation, four treatments were considered. These treatment were as follows: first treatment (FI): irrigation depth equal to 100% of the plant evapotranspiration with five replications, treatment (DI20): irrigation depth equal to 80% of the plant evapotranspiration with five replicates, treatment 3: (DI40) irrigation depth equal to 60% of the plant evapotranspiration with five replicates and the fourth treatment (DI60): irrigation depth equal to 40% of the plant evapotranspiration with five replications.

The maximum and minimum evapotranspiration was 8.7 and 1.06 mm/day in 61 and 13 days after transplanting, respectively. By investigation different mathematical models, the best models for estimation of cucumber evapotranspiration in greenhouse was the power model based temperature, humidity and height of crop with R2 of 0.86. The FAO-Penman-Monteith and Blaney-Criddle models exhibited the best and worst performance  with R2 of 0.42 and 0.24, respectively. The cucumber water productivities in greenhouses ranged from 9.23 to 22.44 Kilograms per cubic meter. This wide water productivity range shows the importance of management and operation in water productivity improvement in greenhouses.

Estimation of greenhouses cucumber water requirement and water productivity are very important. The best model for estimating cucumber evapotranspiration in greenhouse was the power model based on temperature, humidity and height of crop with R2 of 0.86. In this study, cucumber water productivity was estimated in Qazvin greenhouses. The results showed that cucumber water productivities ranged from 9.23 to 22.44 Kilograms per cubic meter. Consequently, 117 ha greenhouse is required for producing the present value of cucumber in the province. This option would save 15 millions of cubic meter water in this area. Development of greenhouses with regarding to various economic and social aspects can help decision-makers in solving water shortage problems.