Estimation and Use of Water Production: Functions in Crops

Abstract

Problems of empirical estimation of water production functions in crops are reviewed and the importance of the estimates is pointed out by means of several examples. The paper concludes that while production functions with fixed intraseasonal water distribution can be estimated by regression methods, difficulties are involved in the regression approach in the estimation of dated production functions. An attempt to conceptualize the plant growth in the framework of process analysis, aimed at the derivation of growth rules is suggested.