DETERMINATION METHODS OF ACTUAL WATER CONSUMPTION OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS BY THE EXAMPLE OF SUMMER PLANTING POTATOES FOR THE ARID ZONE CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTH OF RUSSIA

Abstract

Purpose: scientific and technical justification for determining the dynamics of the actual water consumption of summer planting potato with various hydrometeorological parame-ters for the subsequent forecast and specifying the time of irrigation dates and irrigation rates. Materials and methods. The use of new approaches in determining the technical characteris-tics of irrigation, as one of the defining elements of nature management on irrigation systems in general and in individual farms in is the basis and an important component of ensuring productive safety of population, a necessary tool in maintaining the ecological balance on lands with obvious anthropogenic risks, largely determines agricultural production and is highly relevant for the development of reclamation science and practice. The studies were carried out in Bessergenevskoe Agricultural Enterprise LLC, Oktyabrsky District, Rostov Region, during the summer planting potato cultivation under the conditions of the Lower Don floodplain. Results. The experimental data made it possible to obtain empirical depend-ences of the dynamics of actual water consumption on the sum of temperatures and air humidity deficits for years of different water availability according to the natural moisture deficit. They are represented by the surface equation with the corresponding empirical coefficients average over the growing season: A 1 – 21.035; A 2 – minus 0.1546; A 3 – 0.29705; A 4 – 0.0429; A 5 – minus 0.099; A 6 – 0.057. Conclusions. The data analysis showed that the established re-lationships between actual water consumption and the sum of air humidity deficits and the sum of temperatures vary significantly in the phases of potato development and are described by non-linear mathematical dependencies, which significantly increases the accuracy of determining water consumption and the efficient use of water and energy resources. The solu-tion of this problem will allow getting reasonable irrigation operation modes of summer planting potatoes. Don