Abstract

CORAS MERINO, Pablo Miguel; HAHN SCHLAM, Federico; DIAKITE DIAKITE, Lamine  and  ARTEAGA RAMIREZ, Ramón. Surface runoff as a source of excess water on tropical farmlands. Agric. Téc. Méx [online]. 2006, vol.32, n.2, pp.161-169. ISSN 0568-2517.

The Huimanguillo county in the state of Tabasco, Mexico, is affected by flooding that results from heavy water surface runoff that is deposited on farmland, therefore crop production is frequently lost. In order to analyze this problem the following objectives were stated: determine surface runoff due to maximum consecutive rains throughout five methods and estimate, with the best method identified, the discharge of water per hectare to be removed by drain collectors. The study was conducted in 2003. Design rainfalls were defined for chili pepper, common bean, sorghum, and grass, the real runoff in 24 h and the design discharge were also calculated to define the drainage system suited for each crop. It was found that the surface runoff in 24 h and the estimated design discharges varied with the utilized method and crop. The Curve Number method was chosen because it takes into consideration information on simple and easy to use variables of soil, climate, and hydrological and agronomic factors. Run off and discharge values of 42.00 mm and 0.55 m³ s^-1 were defined for chili pepper, 148.88 mm and 2.12 m³ s^-1 for common bean, 130.84 mm and 1.15 m³ s^-1 for sorghum, and 79.37 mm and 0.89 m³ s^-1 for grass, respectively.

Keywords : Rainfall; farmland drainage.

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