Moisture Availability and Crop Production

ABSTRACT THE level of crop production de- pends upon many factors. One of the important influences is the degree of moisture adequacy or deficit. The effects of timing of water deficits during various stages of growth are briefly described. Providing deficits are not during critical periods, there is a surprising degree of uniformity of response to moisture adequacy as measured by the degree to which evapotranspirative demand, ET, is met. Methods for estimating ET and the dependability of rainfall are given. A tentative classification of climate for agricultural production is presented.