FAO-56 methodology for the stress coefficient evaluation under saline environment conditions: Validation on potato and broad bean crops

This study aims at validating the methodology proposed by to calculate the stress coefficient Ks (ratio between actual and maximal evapotranspiration) under saline environment conditions not affected by soil water shortage. Validation was performed in Mediterranean region (Bari, southern Italy) on two crops: a winter crop (broad bean) and a spring crop (potato) grown in lysimeters, on clay and loam soils, having different levels of salinity. Preliminary observations were carried out to verify that the conditions established by for applying this Ks calculation methodology were fulfilled.