Estimation of the crop coefficient (kc) for bell pepper under greenhouse conditions

ABSTRACT This study aimed to determine the crop coefficient (kc) and respective water consumption of the Magali R. bell pepper hybrid cultivated in a protected environment from May to September 2015. Reference evapotranspiration was estimated using the Modified Penman-Monteith method and data were collected from an automatic weather station installed inside the greenhouse at the Universidade Estadual de Maringá, in the municipality of Maringá, PR, Brazil (23° 25’ 57’’ S, 51° 57’ 8’’ W, and altitude of 542 m). Evapotranspiration was measured using constant water table lysimeters. The total water consumption of the bell pepper crop was 282 mm and the average consumption was 2.35 mm d-1. The maximum evapotranspiration was 5.37 mm d-1. Crop coefficient values for the bell pepper were 0.86, 1.55, and 1.4 for the initial, intermediate, and final stages, respectively, which were higher than those recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization.